This is your song
by FlapjacksandFluff
Summary: AU: Music isn't just tunes and tones. It can weave relationships, spark revolutions, and even break hearts. No one understands this better than a band called the Sidewalk Citizens. They never had it easy, but whatever they did, they did together. But after a new talent comes to town, things get muddled. And it all started with a fox and a bunny meeting on the corner of the street.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone, Flapjack here! I've been taking habitual visits to this side of Fanfiction for a while, and I figured I should take a shot at writing something. So let's get to it, here's a couple of things you need to know about this fic. 1: this is an AU and the story is completely mine. 1.5: Judy knows Clawhauser beforehand. This is so she at least knows one person beforehand. 2: the size differences in this story aren't nearly as drastic as the movie's (for the sake of some of the characters you'll meet in the story). 3: there will be some OCs, but you'll see a lot of the original characters too. 4: There will be a lot of Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Relient K, Shakira, and more so brush up on your music, kiddos.**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Zootopia is Disney's and all that.**

 **Personal Disclaimer: Nick excels in rock, so a little bit like NeonJackal's fic, but I PROMISE that I'm stealing nothing.**

 **Okay, Here we go!**

 **PROLOGUE: HIGH HOPES AND BROKEN BEATS**

After the train to Zootopia pulled into the station and opened its doors, its passengers spilled into the already crowded floors of the station. Amidst the chaos, a lone bunny carrying nothing but a suitcase and a guitar bag slung over her shoulder stepped onto the platform and took a look around. She stared in wonder at the number of flashing signs and diverse collection of mammals rushing here and there. Being from the rural town of Bunnyburrow, she was used to crowded spaces, but the diversity of the city, though was expected, was surprising nonetheless. In the corner of her eye, she saw a timber wolf clad in old jeans and a worn black coat, playing guitar as people tossed coins into his case, and for just a quick second, a hint of fear flashed over her face, but she quickly shook it off. She proceeded out to the front of a station and looked around for a minute until-

"Judy! Over Here!" the Bunny turned her head around to see a plump cheetah in a police uniform waving frantically, a goofy smile plastered onto his face. Judy laughed and ran over to him as fast as her suitcase allowed her to. She jumped up and wrapped her arms as far as she could around the cheetah's neck.

"It's good to see you again Benji!" the Cheetah, Benjamin Clawhauser, was a cop in Zootopia, and he had met Judy Hopps during his time at the ZPD Training academy. The academy wasn't too far away from Bunyburrow, so a lot of the training officers would come and walk around the town.

"It's good to see you too, Judy!" He helped her back down to the floor, grabbed her suitcase and they began walking towards the parking lot. "So you came after all!"

"Yeah, I figured a year of thinking about it was long enough."

"Well, I'm glad you came." He stopped at an SUV and opened the back door, placing the suitcase and the guitar bag inside. "After all," he said as he closed the door and opened the passenger door. "This is the city where anything is possible."

* * *

It was 9 o'clock and the red fox sleeping in his bed could do no more to avoid the light that was now piercing through his eyelids. He sat up in his bed and went to stretch his arms upward, but then yelped at the stabbing pain in his right shoulder _._ He rubbed the spot and winced at the pain it caused. Opting out of changing, he got up and headed out of his room. Outside, the first thing he saw was a fennec fox sitting at the kitchen counter scrolling through his phone. He looked up at him, then went back to scrolling.

"You look like crap." He stated nonchalantly. The red fox looked down at his disheveled fur and boxers and couldn't help but smirk.

"Good morning to you too, buddy." He walked over to the cupboard, opened it, and grabbed a mug labeled 'Nick's'. "So, where are-"

"They went out to grab some stuff for tonight." He looked up to see Nick rubbing his shoulder again. "You good to play?"

Nick's smirk returned and he stopped to look at the fennec with feigned doe eyes.

"Awwwww. Is Finnick worried about me?"

Finnick huffed. "Not even close. I just need the money that we'll get from tonight. So, are. You. Good. To. Play?" he asked as he slid a pack of strings across the table

Nick poured some coffee into the mug then placed a hand on the strings, stopping them.

"Yeah, I'll be good to play."


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 01: LIFE ISN'T FAIR, SWEETHEART**

"Okay, so where are we right now?" Judy pulled out her iCarrot phone and opened up an app which loaded a to do list. "Meet up with Benji, check. Rent out an apartment, Check." She looked around at the apartment Clawhauser helped her get. It wasn't lavish or anything, but it was better than the Pangolin Arms Hotel she was going to bunk at. It had a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen, which was all she needed. On top of that, it was right across from Clawhauser's room. Originally, he said that she could stay at his, but she didn't want too much charity from anyone.

"Okay so I guess the next thing is to check up on my pa-" As if on cue, her phone started buzzing. The contact number read 'Mom & Dad'. She smiled and swiped it to answer.

"Hey it's my parents!" She exclaimed. Her parents, Bonnie and Stuart Hopps, appeared on the screen, a mix of worry and pride on their faces.

"Hey there Jude the dude! How's it going in the big city so far?" Stu asked.

"It's going pretty good so far. Clawhauser helped me get an apartment." She rotated the phone to give her parents a view of the apartment.

"It's very nice dear. How is Clawhauser, by the way?" Bonnie chimed.

"He's doing well, he's as jolly as always." Clawhauser had helped around the farm during his break sessions at the academy, and though Judy's parents were uneasy around predators like most of Bunnyburrow's population, they grew to like Clawhauser. "He's gonna take me on a tour around the central city in a couple of hours."

A flash of worry could be seen on her parents faces after hearing that tidbit of information, but they tried their best to hide it.

"That's… great, Judy, but remember to steer clear of predators, okay?"

"Oh Stu, stop."

"Especially foxes."

"… Actually, your father does have a point."

"Do you still have that fox spray we gave you?"

Judy rolled her eyes and grabbed a small bottle out of her bag. The bottle was pink and read "Fox-Spray"

"Yes, I have the spray dad, but I wouldn't worry too much about predators. So far, they seem pretty nice."

"Okay Jude, just be careful."

"I will. I promise. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Okay sweetie, we love you."

"Love you too." She closed out the conversation and banged her head once on the table. She DID love her parents deeply, but she couldn't understand why they were so deeply afraid of predators. _I mean, the primitive ages ended long ago!_ She thought. But, as if it were trying to save her from more frustration, her stomach began to rumble.

 _I should probably go get something to eat._ She got up, changed into a pair of jeans and her favorite pink plaid shirt and started to head out the door, but not before looking at the can of fox spray, then pocketing it. _Just in case._

* * *

After she got down to the first floor and out the front door, she looked around, and then slapped her forehead. _I don't know where anything is! God, I should have asked Clawhauser where to eat!_ She was about to call him when she saw a red fox in a Hawaiian shirt waiting for a green light to walk. At first she hesitated, then shook her head and walked over to him.

"Excuse me, sir?" The fox turned his head towards her and lifted his aviators up, revealing two emerald colored eyes.

"Hm?"

"Sorry, I'm new here and I don't really know where anything is. I'm trying to find a place to eat. Do you know where I could go?"

The fox took off his aviators and pocketed them. "Actually, I know a small place not far from here. I'm heading there now. If you want, you can join me."

Judy smiled. Though the fox's sense of style was repulsive, he _was_ charming. "Sure, I'd like that." He smirked and nodded his head, gesturing for her to follow him. "My name's Judy, by the way."

"Giving away personal information to a stranger? You weren't kidding about not being from here, huh?"

"Well, you won't be a stranger if you tell me your name." He looked at her with a sense of confusion and wonder.

He stuck his paw out to her. "Nick Wilde." She smiled and shook his paw as they kept walking. "So… you're new here, huh? Where you from originally... If you don't my asking?"

"Not at all. I'm from Bunnyburrow. It's a rural town a little outside Zootopia."

"Soooo why'd you come here?"

She blushed in embarrassment. "You'd think it's silly."

"Maybe, maybe not. Why don't you tell me and I'll let you know what I think?"

She took a second to think it over but then decided, "Okay. I want to be… a professional musician."

 _Crap_. He thought. "Well… It's a goal." He could see the annoyance starting to grow on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"No offense, Carrots," She winced at the demeaning nick name, "but that's not a very achievable goal." By now, he could see that he was about to get an earful from her.

"Oh yeah? And what exactly do you do with YOUR life?"

"I'm a realist, and I've accepted my future." He sported a half-lidded smirk as he looked over at the fuming bunny.

"And you're telling ME to give up!?" She was now at full-on anger now.

"Okay, I'll make it easier for you to understand. Tell me if this story sounds familiar: Naive little hick with good grades and big ideas decides, 'Hey, look at me, I'm gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing Kumbaya!'… Only to find, whoopsie, we don't all get along. And that dream of becoming a big city musician? Double whoopsie! She's stuck playing in bars. And whoopsie number three-sie, no one cares about her or her dreams.

Judy's eyes widened as Nick continued to list out the very things she was deathly afraid of.

"And soon enough those dreams die and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor, living in a box under a bridge. Till, finally, she has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs to become... You're from Bunnyburrow, you said? So how about a carrot farmer? Does that sound about right?" Nick continues walking, noticing that Judy has stopped, dumbfounded.

"Hey, hey!" Judy ran to catch up to him and stopped in front of him. "NO ONE tells me what I can or can't be! Especially not someone who never had the guts to try and be anything more than some silver-tongued jerk!"

Nick leaned down so that he could be at eye-level with her. Smooth Emerald eyes met fiery Amethyst. "All right, look, everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want. Well, you can't. You can only be what you are. Sly fox." he pointed to himself, then to her. "Dumb bunny."

Judy clenched her paws into fists "I'm not a dumb bunny."

Nick stood back up. "Sure you're not." He then gestured down the pathway. "You still hungry?"

"I've lost my appetite."

Nick shrugged his shoulders, "Fair enough." and started walking away. "See ya around carrots."

* * *

Nick walked in silence all the way to Dominic's and entered the pub. Dominic's was spacious enough that a good crowd could fit inside. The walls were lined with old family pictures and vinyl records. Tables were set here and there, And the back of the pub was set up for a stage. It wasn't much, but it could fit a full set of instruments and the sound system was pretty good. He walked over to Dominic, the owner of the pub and the son of Nick's 'friend', Mr. Big. Dominic was cleaning the counter at the bar when Nick walked up.

"Hey Nicky, how ya been?" He said as he tossed the towel over his shoulder. The shrew was shorter than Nick by about a foot, so he was standing on a stool, but he was a heavy-set shrew, and could handle himself in a scrap.

"I think I just ruined someone's dreams, Dom." He said and a glass filled with a frothy brew was slid towards him.

"Why'd you go and do that?" Dominic asked as Nick took a swig from the glass.

"I don't know. I guess I just don't want her to be as crushed as I was when people shut their doors to her."

* * *

Judy slammed the door behind her and fell face-down into her bed. She pulled the pillow over her face and screamed into it. Not long after, she heard the door open.

"Judy, you ok?" It was Clawhauser. Wearing a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. She sat up and smiled genuinely at him. Clawhauser always lit up her day.

"I'm fine Benji. I just met someone unsavory is all."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Alright." Clawhauser tossed some sunglasses over to her. "Well, if you want, I'm off duty, so I can take you on that tour that I promised you." Judy's ears shot up and she hopped off the bed.

"Sure!" She followed Clawhauser out the door, forgetting all about the stuck-up fox she met a couple minutes earlier.

* * *

Clawhauser had treated her to the total package. He showed her all of the clothing stores, the best instrument shops, and even took her to see a movie. Judy was having a blast, and then Clawhauser's phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened it up, read the message, and typed something up. When a second message came through, he squealed in delight.

"Judy, some of the guys at the ZPD are going down to a place called Dominic's for dinner and a couple drinks. I asked if you could join us and they said yes! You wanna come?"

Judy, remembering that she didn't eat lunch, jumped in delight. "Sure!"

"Oh, you'll love it. Dominic's is our go-to place for meet-ups."

"Why's that?"

"They've got live entertainment, and there's this one band called the Sidewalk Citizens that's been playing there for a couple years now, and they're really good!"

"Well, it should be pretty good night for us then, huh? Come on, Let's go!"

* * *

 _7:00 p.m. Dominic's_

"Clawhauser! Over here!" A cape buffalo in a polo waved over at them, and they walked over to meet them.

"Hey guys, this is Judy Hopps. She just moved here looking for a shot at music." Clawhauser introduced Judy to the group.

"A pleasure Ms. Hopps. I'm Adrian Bogo. I run this lot." He held out his hoof to her and she shook it eagerly.

"Please, just call me Judy."

"From right to left, that's Fangmeyer, Wolfard, Francine, Mchorn, and Grizzoli." Clawhauser pointed toward the Tiger, Wolf, Elephant, Rhino and Bear all gathered around the table who waved them.

"Well, Judy, if you're looking to get some publicity, this place is as good as any." Bogo explained, but before he could go further, The lights turned on and focused towards the stage. The crowd started clapping as a Fennec, A Siberian Husky and a tiger stepped onto the stage.

"Are those guys the Sidewalk Citizens?" Judy whispered to Clawhauser.

"Yeah, but the lead singer isn't up there." He whispered back. The band members got to their instruments: the fennec to the drumset in the back, the tiger to the bass guitar and the Siberian husky to an electric guitar. They looked at each other and then the fennec started hitting the kick drum. After four timed hits, the tiger plucked a couple notes on his bass. There were a couple of 'whoo's and 'yeah's here and there. Suddenly after two measures, the crowd starting singing.

"Na na na na na naa, na naa na na.!" They sang twice, and then what Judy saw next made her eyes pop open.

It was him. That fox from earlier, but it couldn't be. He wasn't wearing that ridiculous shirt anymore, instead he was clad in a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt. He was in the crowd when she saw him, and when he lifted the mic to his mouth, what came out was something she didn't expect.

 _"I'm here to collect your hearts. It's the only reason that I sing! I don't believe a word you're saying but I can't stop listening!"_ By the time he was at the stage, the room was jamming along to the beat of the song.

 _"This is the story of how they met. Her picture was on the back of a pack of cigarettes. When she touched him he turned ruby red: A story that they'll never forget, never forget."_ He caught sight of her, and her eyes made a futile attempt to look away. Once again he taunted her with that smirk of his.

 _"And all the boys are smoking menthols, girls are getting back rubs. I will drift to you if you make yourself shake fast enough. My old aches become new again. My old friends become exes again_. Come on, sing with us! _"_ As if they were in a trance, the crowd in unison sang the next few lines.

 _"Whoa, where did the party go? We're ending it on the phone. I'm not gonna go home alone. Whoa, where did the party go?"_ They all screamed.

He looked at her once more with that smirk. _Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

 **A/N: Whoa! Looks like things are getting a little heated. Don't you guys worry your little heads, though. I won't leave you with this chapter for too long. The song is** ** _Where did the Party Go_** **by** ** _Fall Out Boy_** **. If there's something you like or don't like, leave a review. I also appreciate critiques and praises. Anyways, that's all for me. See ya around, my children.**


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 02: A GUITAR, A BEER, AND A CHANCE**

After a couple of covers of different songs and an original or two, Nick and the others had thanked everyone for the night and retired from the stage. Judy had been tense the entire time because every now and then during the performance, Nick would glance over at her, and her breath would hitch. Not in the way someone does when their crush looks at them. _God no._ I was more along the line of someone refraining from walking on stage and slapping the smirk off of a smug fox's face… Something like that. _At least it's over._ She sighed as she thought to herself. Her peace of mind didn't last long, though, when she saw Nick making his way towards the table she and the officers were sitting at. _Oh, God no. Please, please, please don't walk over he-_

"Hey there, Carrots. I thought you weren't hungry?" She looked up and his lopsided grin burned a hole through her. She made no attempt to hide her disgust.

"You know Judy, Nick?" The voice was Clawhauser's. _Oh… Right. This is the ZPD's favorite watering hole._

"Of course I do. She didn't tell you? We met earlier today." His haughty behavior was seemingly growing by the second. _I swear to God, Nick, if you don't wipe that look on your face, I'll rip it off._

"Judy!" She bolted up and looked over to Clawhauser. " _Nick_ was the unsavory character you were talking about? Nick's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet!" Judy tried her best not to, but despite her efforts, she let out a bitter laugh.

"It's not her fault, Ben. I may or may not have given her some advice concerning her pursuit in becoming a musician that she may not have taken very well."

"Are you looking for venues to play at, Judy?" This time, it was Bogo that piped up. Judy began to color with embarrassment.

"… Maybe." She was unsure about how the other officers were going to take it, and she wasn't ready to have her goals mocked twice in one day.

"Well, why didn't you tell us!? Nick, do you think that you can get Dom to let one more mammal play tonight?" _Why would you ask him? He's the one who told me to give up! He wouldn't help me!_

"Sure."

Judy looked over at Nick, and to her disbelief, the smug grin was gone. Instead, his face donned the same look he gave her when they first met. She was dumbfounded.

"Re-Really?"

He shrugged "Why not?" He nudged his head away from the table. "Come on. I'll introduce you to the guys." Still dumbfounded, she got up and began to follow him, her eyes never leaving him. Where did this guy come from? Just a second ago, he was a smug jerk who thought himself better than her, but now, he was that friendly face that she met at the corner of the street. "Hey guys. I've got someone I want you to meet." Nick reached his paw behind her and gently pushed her forward. Her eyes left Nick and fell upon the three faces she had just seen on stage. "This is Judy Hopps. She's trying to become a professional musician. I'm gonna try to get her a quick spot on tonight's entertainment. Look after her for a second, huh?" and with that, Nick was gone. For a couple seconds, there was an awkward silence between the four, until the husky decided to break it.

"Nice to meet you Judy. I'm Joey." The husky spoke in an Irish accent as he held out his paw for a handshake, which Judy shook. "The tiger is Noah and the shorty is Finnick." He quipped, earning him a clip on the shoulder.

"Nice to meet you guys."

"The pleasure's all ours." Noah responded with a heavy Cockney accent. "Nick mentioned you to us earlier today. If you don't mind our asking, how'd you meet him?"

Judy immediately winced at the memory. "I was looking for a place to eat, and he offered to take me to lunch."

"And then you told him about how you wanted to become a famous musician, and then he laughed at you?" Joey huffed with a familiarity of someone who's had this conversation plenty of times before.

"Um… no, actually. He never laughed." That caught the band's attention. "I mean, he pretty much shot it down, but he never laughed in my face. He just told me that it couldn't happen." The band looked at each other and then back at her. _What's going on?_ Before she could convey her confusion, Nick had walked back to the table.

"Guess what, Carrots. Dom is gonna let you have the stage. You get ONE song, so make it good."

Judy was ecstatic, but then she had a horrible realization. "My guitar! I left it at home."

"Hey, hey, hey, Chill out. You can use mine." Nick pulled out a guitar case, and after opening the case, Judy gasped. The guitar was old and there were a few gouges and chips in the wood, but it had an aged beauty she'd only seen once. She grabbed the guitar and looked up at him.

"Wh-Why would you-"

"Don't mistake this for kindness. I think you're gonna fail miserably, but I figured I might as well load the gun you plan on firing." After she saw the smug look return to his face again, she donned a smirk of her own. _Just you wait, slick. I'll show you._ Then she was off. Nick leaned up against the counter and watched as she walked up on stage.

Joey leaned over to him. "You don't actually think she's gonna fail." Nick glanced over at Joey, whom handed him a glass.

* * *

The moment she stepped onto the stage, Judy was overwhelmed. The pub seemed so much smaller from down on the ground. Up on the stage, the lights seemed brighter, the crowd seemed bigger and she seemed smaller. She stepped up to the mic.

"Hi everyone." She spoke timidly. "I'm Judy Hopps, and if it's alright, I'd like to sing to you." She took a look around and her eyes landed on Clawhauser, who was silently trying to egg her on. He was mouthing something like _You can do this_.

"What're you singing?" She heard a voice that sounded distinctly like Noah's. She looked over at the counter where Nick and his band were sitting. She then began running through a few songs she could do before settling down on one.

"I'll be singing a song called Pompeii. My brother wrote the song for me when I was little." She then glanced over at Nick, who simply nodded once. She was immediately filled with determination. She began plucking the strings with the finesse of a master, then lifted her mouth to the mic.

 _"I was left to my own devices. Many days fell away with nothing to show"_ She closed her eyes and let the words roll off her tongue. It had years since she last heard these words. As she plucked the strings, she let the music take over.

 _"And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love. Great clouds roll over the hills, bringing darkness from above."_ She pulled her fingers from the strings and let them resonate for a second.

 _"But if you close your eyes,"_ She brought hand down over the strings, strumming gently. _"Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_ She opened her eyes to see everyone in the pub looking straight at her. Smiling, she began to strum a little louder.

* * *

 _"We were caught up and lost in all of our vices. In your pose as the dust settled around us"_ Nick, by this time, was dumbstruck. He'd heard many voices, some good some bad, but he'd never heard anything like hers. But what truly amazed him was how engrossed she was into the music.

 _"And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love. Great clouds roll over the hills, bringing darkness from above."_ She suddenly stopped singing and leaned into the mic.

 _"But if you close your eyes,"_ and almost as if by magic. Mammals her and there began clapping to the beat. _"Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_

"She began to start vocalizing and the audience started to sing along. _"Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o"_ She went back to strumming gently.

" _Oh where do we begin, the rubble or our sins? Oh where do we begin, rubble or our sins?_ Keep singing that." And the audience kept singing.

 _"And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love. Great clouds roll over the hills, bringing darkness from above."_ And once again, she let he chord resonate.

 _"But if you close your eyes,"_ and then the clapping resumed. " _Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_

 _"Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o"_ As the chanting subsided, it was replaced by claps and cheers. She got off stage and walked back over to Nick, who was still leaning up against the counter, but his smirk was replaced by a warm smile.

"Still think I don't stand a chance?" She asked, donning Nick's trademark smirk. He laughed a bit to himself.

"You did good, cottontail."

"Did good!? She frickin killed it up there!" Finnick jumped up and held out his paw for a fist-bump, which Judy returned.

"Alright, Alright. It's one thing to get a bunch of people in a bar to notice you. Now you've got to do what we've been trying to do for years now. And that's gaining some _real_ publicity." Nick said in a rather 'matter-of-fact' tone.

"I think that I might be able to help with that." Judy, Nick and the others turned to the sound of the slick English voice behind them. There stood a nicely dressed hare with striped markings on his ears and cheeks.

"…What?" Noah piped up.

"Oh, Sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jack Savage," He then fished a wallet out of his pocket and tossed a card reading his name and a phone number. "and I'm the mammal who wants to give you a shot."

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaaaaand Cut! That's all I'm doing for this chapter, folks. So, I've got a couple of notes for this chapter. First things first: The accents. I make a big deal about the accents of Joey and Noah for reasons you will see in the future. Second, Nick and Judy: They still don't like each other at all, but they respect each other as musicians. And for those who like fluff, you'll get some, but it won't be until later. They gotta become friends first. Third, a couple of clear-the-air statements:** ** _Italics_** **are song lyrics or thoughts. Lines represent scene breaks or perspective changes. Finally, Judy's brother: You will meet him later on in the story and he will play a big part, but until then [puts on helmet and climbs into cannon] SEE YA LATER SUCKERS! [cannon fires flapjack at a speed of 88 miles an hour and flapjack disappears]**


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 03: STEPPIN' IT UP**

"What're you talking about?" Nick inclined as he picked up the card Jack slid onto the counter. "You some kind of record label or something?"

Jack stifled a small chuckle. "No, nothing like that. Think of me as a glorified assistant." he tapped on the counter and Dominic slid him a glass. He nodded to him and continued. "Essentially, what I do is find you venues, help you maintain a good public appearance and manage your schedule. And what I'm asking is for you to hire me."

"Why us?" Nick, Jack and the others turned to look at Judy. "I mean, Nick just plays at bars and I'm just a bunny with high hopes. And I don't think either of us can pay you, anyways."

"That's exactly why I want to help you." They turned back to Jack with a look of anticipation. "Long story short: I grew up in London wanting nothing, living comfortably while others didn't. When I was a boy, my father told me to be kind to those less fortunate. That's exactly why I want to help you. And, I don't need payment. I'm well funded."

Nick and the others looked at each other, then back at Jack. This was, in a way, what they were looking for. Sure, it wasn't exactly what they expected, but an manager would make setting things up easier. _And maybe the industry will accept a smooth-talking hare over a sly fox._ But could things be as easy as this? Nick grew up knowing two truths, 'you have to take what you want' and 'People tend to look out only for themselves'. Could the one thing that he wanted more than anything really just be given to him?

"How about this? I'll let you all think about it, and when you have an answer, call me." He left a twenty in his now empty glass and slid it back over to Dominic, who caught it with one paw, and then left the pub.

Judy, unlike Nick, was ecstatic about already gaining publicity the first week of moving in. "Did you guys not hear him? He wants to help you guys gain some publicity! Don't you guys want that?" The guys were silent for a while, until Joey spoke up.

"It's not that, Judy." Joey stated. "We want to believe that this hare wants to help us, but out for the goodness of his heart? We just find that a little hard to believe."

"Regardless," Nick spoke up again. "He's given us some time to think about it. So we'll do just that." Judy opened her mouth in protest, but a familiar voice called out for her.

"Judy! Over here!" Judy heard Clawhauser call. She left the counter and walked over to him and the other officers, who then proceeded to praise her for her performance.

"That girl is definitely something." Noah huffs.

"Yeah." Nick replies. "Definitely something."

* * *

As Nick laid in his bed that night, his mind couldn't help but think about the day's events. First, he meets that bunny and shoots her dreams down. Then he meets her again and for some ridiculous reason, he decides to help her out.

 _Quit lying to yourself._

 _What?_

 _Deep down inside, you like her._

 _She's stubborn._

 _Yeah, a lot like you._

 _Why am I arguing with myself?_

Nick didn't have many friends, save the guys and some of the officers at the ZPD. Given his past, he never had much room for trust. _But that bunny was something different. She actually BELIEVES that she can make it._ Of course, then that hare showed up saying that he wants to help them. He pulled the card out of his pocket.

Jackson Savage  
609-555-4780

 _Jack, huh?_ That hare was a real puzzle. Nick had been out in the big bad world long enough to learn how to sniff out a lie when he heard one. But that was just it: Jack wasn't lying, but how couldn't he? Could someone really do something out of the goodness of his heart?. Not likely, but still...

Shaking off the thoughts in his head, he opted to solve his problems tomorrow and his eyes slowly closed as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Clawhauser was bouncing alongside Judy, who was walking with her hands in her pockets. He was talking about something, but she was half-invested in the conversation; her mind was deep in thought about today's events: first Nick, then the pub, then that strange hare. Nick had been sweet, then sour, then sweet again, then pompous. He was a puzzle she couldn't quite put together. She couldn't understand what made him the way he is. And then that hare, Jack, had offered, on a silver plate, the one thing that every aspiring musician is looking for, yet he had recoiled, unsure about whether to take it.

"Earth to Judy. Come in, Judy." Judy looked up to see Clawhauser staring at her.

She sighed "Sorry, Benji. I was just thinking."

"About Nick or that hare?"

"Both, actually." She ran her paws through the fur atop her head and down her neck in frustration. "I mean, Jack was offering to help out, but Nick didn't seem like he even _wanted_ to take him up on the offer! Is he really that afraid?"

"It's a lot more complicated than that." Clawhauser spoke in a soft tone. Judy looked back up at him with concern. Ben was normally very jovial and happy, but now, a sympathy occupied his eyes.

"…What do you mean?" She then saw him shake his head.

"That's not really my place. You'll have to ask him."

"So, what you're saying is that I'll never get to know." Judy lamented. Even though Nick displayed some hint that he wasn't totally evil, he was still a pompous jerk. There was no way he'd tell her anything.

"Well, you could ask one of his band members," her ears lifted up into the air, "But even they would probably give you a _little bit_ of the story and then tell you to ask him yourself for the rest." Then fell back down. _So it's pretty much hopeless._

 _Why do you care? He's just a jerk with an inflated ego._

 _No, I think that there's something more to it than that._

 _Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question._

 _You mean mine?_

 _Whatever. Why care? He's just like Gideon._

 _Actually, he kinda reminds me of Mr. Robin-_

"So what about you?" Judy snapped out of her personal argument. "Are you gonna take Jack up on his offer?"

Judy hadn't thought about that. She definitely wanted to, but she wasn't sure if she should. This was her first day in the city. If she were to take him up on his offer, she _could_ get what she wanted… or she could end up being overwhelmed and then end up back at square one. Plus, she would have no one beside her. Judy was not one for stereotypes, but like most bunnies, she liked community. Being famous with no one to share it with would become too lonely for her.

But on the other side, Jack was offering something at it too good to pass up.

"I'll… I'll have to think about it."

* * *

 _One week later._

Judy stumbled to her front door with four bags of groceries. A week in and she had decided that she couldn't live off of take-out forever. As she dropped the bags to the floor so she could fish her keys out of her pocket, she heard something from the inside of her room. _What the heck?_ She reached for the knob and twisted it. To her surprise, it was unlocked. She grabbed her bags, brought them in and set them on her kitchen counter. She then opened her crossbody bag and grabbed a taser out of it. Judy was by no means a violent individual, but she didn't mind resorting to it if push came to shove. She craned her neck to her the sound better.

A guitar?

Her ears perked up and she listened intently. She could hear what sounded like Jon Mayor's "Why Georgia" resonating through the house. Whoever was playing was _good_. She followed the sounds to her bedroom. She opened the door, prepared to drop whoever dared to invade her apartment.

Or so she thought.

"Nick!?"

The red fox looked up at her and put on his trademark smirk. "Funny meeting you here carrots."

"What are you doing in my apartment?"

"Ben let me in." He replied nonchalantly. Nick was sitting on her bed in blue jeans and a grey sleeveless shirt. as he set the guitar gently on the bed and walked over to her. "You planning on tasing me?" Judy looked down, realizing that she still had the taser facing towards him.

"I'm considering it." Nick raised an eyebrow as he took two digits and pushed the taser away from him.

"Relax, cottontail." He told her as he walked past her and grabbed an apple out of one of the grocery bags, taking a bite out of it. "I've already eaten my share of little prey for the day, so you're safe and sound."

She rolled her eyes and put the taser down. He swallowed and gestured towards her room.

"Beautiful guitar. What's her name?"

"Luna. she's my brother's. He gave her to me when he left the house."

"I'm assuming this is the same brother whose song you sang at Dominic's. You seem pretty influenced by him."

"Yeah." She smiled softly at the memory of her brother. "His name's Nathan. He left for Zootopia four years ago to get ahead of the music game." She then realized that she allowed Nick to come in, play her guitar, eat her food and then dig into her personal life. _What am I doing?_ "Did you want something?" She spat out, trying her hardest to make her frustration known.

"Oh yeah. Did you take Jack up on his offer?" Nick watched as Judy's frustration morphed into confusion.

"Why do you care?"

Nick shrugged. "Just wondering." He then watched as she shifted in her space.

"…no." Now it was Nick's turn to be confused. Judy caught sight of his expression. "I mean, not yet. I'm new to the city and I don't know how things work around here."

"Is that it?"

"No… I don't have a band."

"Plenty of musicians are independent. Gazelle is." He stated, pointing to a stack of CDs, most of which consisted of Gazelle and We Left as Spartans. Judy rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know, I know, but even Gazelle's boyfriend leads her dancers. It's just… I'd be lonely if it was just me and no one to share it with." She looked back over at him, who nodded his head to indicate that he understood After that, they stood in silence for a little while until Nick spoke up.

"Well, it took some time but the guys and I decided that we're going to take him up on the offer and I-"

"Came to gloat?" Here was the Nick that she knew.

"No. I came to ask if you'd like to be a part of our band." She turned back to look at him again.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I heard, but why?"

"Because, though I think that you're an insufferable little ball of fluff," She glared at him, but didn't say anything "You're an amazing singer. We figured that if you didn't take the deal, we'd offer to let you join us." Judy was confused. Why would he be doing this?

"What would I be doing?"

"You'd be singing. I'd sing some, you'd sing some. Stuff like that." Nick could see that she was thinking about it. "I mean, you don't have to. I don't care either way."

"I'll do it."

For a quick second, Nick looked surprised. "Really?"

"Sure, why not?" Nick looked at her with the same wonder and confusion. _This bunny is definitely different. I'll give her that._ His hand went into his pocket and grabbed his phone. He pulled a card out of the other pocket and started dialing a number.

"What're you doi-" Nick held up a finger, eyes still on the phone. He put it on speaker and set it down on the counter. They listened to the tone once or twice before a smooth English accent spoke through the tinny speakers on the phone.

"Jack Savage. Who's this?"

"Jack, It's Nick and Judy. That offer you gave both of us last Saturday; Is it still good?"

"Oh, Nick. Yeah, it's still valid. Are you taking me up on it?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Perfect. Let's meet up at Dominic's tomorrow at 2:00 pm. I'll bring two contracts."

"Actually, Jack." Judy interjected. "We'll only need one."

 **A/N: Hey guys, Everyone's favorite pancake here! So here's another chapter for you guys! As you can probably tell now, I'm gonna have to slow down the speed that I put this fic out at. I had a little too much fun writing this fic and I kinda neglected some of my other responsibilities.**

 **So, a couple notes from this Chapter:**

 **If you noticed, I placed a couple hints in the story about future events. So Nick seems to have a dark past (No surprise there.), but it might be a little more than just a couple of bullies this time. Also, who is this Mr. Robin and why does Nick remind her of him? And Judy's brother is in Zootopia? Perhaps we'll meet him in the future.**

 **Explanation for the weird band names: Jon Mayor is John Mayer. We Left as Spartans is We Came as Romans, and Gazelle is Shakira (for those who didn't watch the movie)**

 **In the fic, Joey and Noah are practically carbon copies of me and the closest friend I've ever had, save the fact that those aren't our names.**

 **'Be kind to those less fortunate' is a quote from the Draenei race in World of Warcraft. Props to those who got it.**

 **Just like every other time that I've said it. I welcome praises and critiques. Let me know if there's anything you want to see more of or less of. That's about all. See ya next time. Flapjack out!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello, good people of the Fanfiction website! It's been a bit, but I've got another chapter for you. This one is gonna give a bit of insight on Nick and the guys' lives, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!**

 **CHAPTER 04: A TATTOO, A COUPLE OF STORIES, AND SOME WHISKEY**

Joey was never one for surprises. Being the son of a former bounty hunter meant that he preferred when things didn't happen without his knowing so. However, when he had returned from picking up lunch to find Nick walking with Judy down the sidewalk, he couldn't help but smile. _Well, well, well. She said yes after all._ Just as they were about to head inside the apartment complex, Joey walked up behind them.

"Well, had I known that you were picking up lunch for us, I would've just stayed home." Judy jerked her around and smiled as she jumped up and gave Joey a big hug. He fell back a few steps, then laughed. "On a hugging basis, already? We've only just met." He joked.

"It's good to see you, Joey." She let go of him and saw that, like Nick, he had a trademark smirk of his own.

"Well, it's good to know that you remembered my name." He quipped. "So, I'm guessing that you decided to join the riff raff?"

"Well, Nick said that you guys wanted me to join, and I figured that I could do worse."

"Oh, he _did_ , did he?" He turned around and gave Nick a _'You little liar'_ look before turning around. "Well, you definitely could do worse than us."

She giggled a little and he let his smirk fade into a warm smile as his mismatched eyes softened. "Seriously though, it's good to see you again. Hopefully, you'll grow to like the guys." He gestured towards the door to the apartment complex. "Our joint apartment is on the top floor at the end of the hallway. Finnick and Noah are up there." She nodded and took her leave. As soon as she left Joey gave Nick a knowing glance.

" _We_ wanted her to join?" He pryed and Nick responded with a nervous laugh. "Wouldn't want her knowing that you're a frickin' softie, would we?"

"Very funny, Joey." He said as they walked in.

"So, was there anything in the contract that we need to worry about?" Joey asked. The other members were indifferent about the business end of the deal between Nick and Jack, so they decided to stay behind and let Nick handle the deal.

"No, actually. No loopholes, no catches. The only thing he's asking is that he gets Sunday off to spend with his girl, whom I'm guessing was the otter he was talking to before we showed up."

"An otter, huh? An Interspecies couple showing affection in public; that could cause trouble."

"Any problem there?" Nick asked, already knowing the answer.

Joey turned and looked at him, then smirked. "Nah."

* * *

Judy made her way down the hall and stood in front of an old door with a welcome mat that read 'We're loud. Be warned'. She smiled and knocked on the door.

"Joey, someone's at the door!" She heard something that sounded like Finnick's Bronx accent, followed by Noah's cockney one.

"Joey went out to get lunch. Just open the door!"

"Argh! Fine!" The doorknob wiggled a bit and she could hear Finnick mumbling under his breath. The door opened and the disheveled fennec stood at the door in his boxers. His gaze met Judy's and his scowl softened. "Judy. What're you-" He cut off his sentence and a realization hit him. "You said yes, didn't ya?"

"Very astute, Finnick." She quipped, then smiled warmly. "Yes, yes I did."

"Well, then. Welcome to the family." He said as he stepped to the side. The moment she walked through the door, Judy was overwhelmed by the mess. Papers were strewn around the room, Dishes were piling up in the sink, instruments were hanging haphazardly off the edges of chairs and couches and piles of clothes were stacked here and there. All in all, it was a mess. It probably smelled just as bad as it looked had it not been for the coffee that was brewing.

"This place is a mess."

"What'd you expect?" Finnick replied, grabbing a shirt and tossing it onto a pile of other dirty clothes. "Four guys bunking in the same apartment equals a year-long mess." Before Judy could retort, she heard footsteps, followed by a shirtless tiger appearing.

"Oh, Judy! Hey!" Noah quickly slid a t-shirt on after seeing her. "What're you doing here?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Judy didn't know why she was here. They had met up with Jack, signed him on, and then Nick told her to follow him. They ended up at this old apartment complex, which she now knew was where they lived.

"Well, since you've agreed to join the band, there's a couple of things you need to know and an initiation that you have to go through." Judy turned around as Nick and Joey walked in.

"You sure that's a good idea, Nick?" She turned around to see Finnick. His face was indifferent, but his tone was questioning. "I mean, she _is_ a country bunny, after all. No offense, Judy." Judy's brow furrowed with determination. She could tell that if she was gonna be in this group, she would have to prove herself, and being the spite-fire bunny that she was, she wasn't about to back down.

"It's alright. Whatever it is, I can take it." Nick's eyebrows rose, and then he smirked and he pulled his shirt up, revealing a tattoo on his right side. It was a tribal tattoo of a broken sword over a cracked shield. The other members followed suit, each revealing a tribal sword over a cracked shield: Finnick's covering his shoulder and upper arm, Noah's on the right pectoral muscle and Joey's covering his left.

"It's our mark." Nick spoke up, pulling his shirt back down. "We all carry one as a promise to stand together no matter what." his smirk faded and his eyes steeled themselves. "If you want in, you need to prove it to us that you want it as much as we do." Judy was quiet for a second, then nodded.

"I'll do it."

"You need to understand that this isn't just about some tattoo. You do this, you don't get a chance to back out. Ever. Plus, tattoos aren't too fun to get." This time, Judy didn't even hesitate.

"Let's get it done. How hard can it be."

* * *

 _5:30 p.m Sidewalk Citizens' room_

Judy was still whimpering and rubbing at the spot on her thigh where she had gotten the tattoo. The process had required the artist to shave the fur the spot where the tattoo would be etched onto. The ink they used would permanently change the color of the fur that would grow over it, so the tattoo would be seen at all times.

"You keep rubbing it, and it'll never heal." Joey stated. After they had gotten back to the room, Nick left to grab dinner, leaving Judy with the guys. Joey was making a chocolate banana shake while Noah and Finnick were searching through a mess of clothes for God knows what. "Perhaps we could find something to do to take your mind off the pain." He poured a glass and placed in front of Judy, who thanked him for it and sipped from a straw, immediately forgetting about the stinging pain in he thigh.

"mmmmm. Like what?"

"Well," Joey rubbed the back of his head as if wondering what to do. "We don't really know anything about you, and I guess you know next-to-nothing about us. How about we all get to know about each other a bit?"

Judy's eyes lit up at the notion of getting to know the guys a bit. "Sure!"

"Okay, well, let's start with you."

"Okay, what do you wanna know?"

"Anything, we guess." Finnick called back, still searching.

"Okay, I guess we can start with my family. My parents are farmers. They have 275 kits." There was a moment of silence, and then Judy continued. "Of those kits, I'm smack-dab in the middle. I was a bit of a spite-fire type of kit, never settling in one place. I was about 10 years old when I realized that I had a thing for music. I became consumed by it… so much that I didn't have too many friends growing up. I settled for a smaller group of friends and my family. One of my older brothers, Nathan, took notice of my musical talent and began to tutor me: how to play, read, sing, and write.

"When he turned twenty, he left for Zootopia to get his shot as a big star, and that's where I got my drive from, I guess. So that's about it. What about you, Joey?"

Joey pointed to himself. "Me? Hmm, well I guess I'll start at the beginning, too. My dad was a bounty hunter and my mom was a thief he was chasing. He managed to catch her, but by the time he had, they had fallen in love. They abandoned their perspective lifestyles and started a family. They gave birth to me, and somehow I was born with a yellow right eye like my mom's and a blue left one like my dad's. I met Noah in third grade, and we've been friends since then."

"I was born a poor little runt on the streets of London." Noah piped up, he and Finnick picking up an old photo book and bringing it to the table, opening it up to a group of little kids that Judy realized was them when they were little. "My parents were grifters, but I loved music. We met Joey's family, who took us in and helped us out. Our parents started up a boxing gym, where I officially met Joey. We both had an ear for music, so we played together in our spare time.

"We met Finnick and Nick when we were 14, when Nick's dad met up with Joey's; They were old friends. The four of us, realizing that we all loved music, started playing together. When Joey's parents and mine saw us playing, they sent us with them back to Zootopia because they wanted a bright future for us."

Judy looked over at Finnick. "You went with Nick and his dad to another country? Your parents were okay with that?" An awkward silence filled the room as Noah and Joey looked at Finnick, anticipating his answer.

"Well, if your parents are also your best friend's parents, why not?" was his reply, and it took Judy a little while to understand, but when she did, guilt covered her face.

"..You're adopted."

"Yeah, I am." He flipped to a page in the book, showing a young Nick and Finnick making popsicles in the snow out of paw prints, a sign reading "Pawpsicles: $1" in the background, and for the first time, Judy saw Finnick's lips curl into a smile. "I never knew my biological parents; They abandoned me the day after I was born. I was passed on between homeless people who tried to take care of me until I was about 5 years old, and then I'd try to fend for myself for the next 3 years." At this point Judy was tearing up a bit. "I was eight when Nick and his mother met me. They took me in, made me a part of the family, and for the first time in 8 years, I was happy."

"Did you ever try looking for your real family?" Judy asked, and then Finnick shook his head and looked at her.

"What're you talking about? Nick and his family, _they_ were my real family. They took care of me when no one else wanted to. The only thing my 'parents' did was give birth to me." He spat. Judy looked at him, and then to Noah and Joey. The three of them had one thing in common: Nick. Nick and his family seemed to have done something for each and every one of them. _So why is he the way he is now?_

"What about Nick?"

"What about him?"

"What's his story?"

"That's not our place to say." Finnick warned. "You want to know Nick's story? Ask him yourself."

"Can you at least tell me why he is the way he is now? You all make it sound like Nick and his family were the greatest people in the world. So why is he such a jerk now?" The three of them looked at each other, and then Joey sighed.

"It's not so much one singular thing as much as it is a collection of events in his life."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that Nick has experienced more pain in his life than he deserved." Noah chipped in.

"What happened to him?"

"Like Finnick said: If you wanna know what happened to Nick, you'll need to ask Nick yourself." And once again, Judy found herself with more questions about Nick than she had answers. She slumped in her chair, defeated.

* * *

The elevator doors opened and Nick stepped into the hall, carrying five boxes of Chinese take-out. He slowly walked to the end of the hallway, careful not to spill the cups of egg-drop soup he was balancing precariously atop the five boxes. As he made it to the door and awkwardly fished out the keys from his pocket, he heard conversation through the door.

 _"What about Nick?"_

 _"What about him?"_

 _"What's his story?"_

 _"That's not our place to say. You want to know Nick's story? Ask him yourself."_ Nick smirked at the sound of Finnick defending Nick's privacy.

 _"Can you at least tell me why he is the way he is now? You all make it sound like Nick and his family were the greatest people in the world. So why is he such a jerk now?"_ Then his smirk faded. He knew that he was a jerk, but it's never fun to hear someone call him that, but what concerned him was that of all the people Nick could be snarky with, he wondered why he was with her. _She didn't do anything to deserve it._

 _"It's not so much one singular thing as much as it is a collection of events in his life."_

 _"What do you mean?"_ Nick's breath hitched. _Joey, don't you dare._

 _"Let's just say that Nick has experienced more pain in his life than he deserved."_

 _"What happened to him?" Don't!  
_

 _"Like Finnick said: If you wanna know what happened to Nick, you'll need to ask Nick yourself."_ Then Nick sighed. He unlocked the door and brought the food in.

"Hey guys, who's hungry?"

* * *

 _7:30 p.m Sidewalk Citizens' room_

The trashcan was now full of boxes and plastic forks after the five ate everything. A bottle or three of Jack Daniels later, they were now all sitting around in the living room, laughing as they made jokes and told stories. It was after hearing about how Noah convinced Finnick to dress up like a baby so he could get a babysitter's discount for groceries that Judy fought fits of giggles to check her phone.

"Okay guys," Judy managed to say. "I've got to get home."

"What're you talking about? This _is_ home." Joey commented. Judy shook her head and looked at Joey, still giggling. "No, it's not stupid. I live two blocks down."

"Not anymore, you live two doors down. We moved your stuff over while you were getting your tat." Noah slurred and went to take another sip from his glass, only for his lips to be met with emptiness. Judy was now frustrated. Still drunk, but frustrated nonetheless.

"What? You didn't tell me! What about Benji!? What about my Rent!? How do you even own a second room!?" She managed, but was still laughing. Somehow, she still managed to find this whole situation quite funny.

"A second _room_? We own this floor, cottontail!" Nick howled, and Judy stood confused.

 _7:30 p.m_ _Sidewalk Citizens' FLOOR_

"…But, how? I thought-"

"-That we were broke? Please Carrots, we work jobs. Plus, we're good friends with the landlord." Nick took another swig straight from the bottle and winced for a second. "And Benji was the one that suggested it. We paid off the rent for the month and cancelled it." Judy was so confused. How had so much happened within these past two days?

"We look out for family." Joey called out and she looked up to see that Nick was walking over to her.

"That is, if you want to be a part of it?"

"…Yeah, sure." She answered. Nick smiled and opened the door and everyone stumbled out and moved to their own respective doors. Nick closed the door to the main room and walked Judy to a room across from it. At the foot of the door was her carrot styled welcome mat, and sure enough, when Nick opened the door, all of her things were inside. Judy took a stroll in and analyzed the room. It wasn't as big as her other room, and it didn't have a kitchen, but it had a bathroom and a bed.

"It's not as big, but seeing as how we own the floor, it's pretty nice." Judy turned around to see Nick leaning against the door way. _Should I ask now?_ and as if to answer her question, her mouth opened.

"What happened to you when you were a kid?" Nick's eyes widened for a moment and she could see that he was wondering whether he should say or not. And then his mouth opened, but what came out was not what she was looking for.

"I don't think I'm ready to say yet, Carrots. Maybe one day, but not today." He pulled something out and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at it. It was a pick with the broken sword and shield carved into it. She looked up to see that the smirk on his face had returned. "Get some sleep, fluff. We're gonna have some serious headaches in the morning."

With that, he closed the door and left. That night, as they got into their respective beds, one thought kept occupying their minds.

 _This is gonna be harder than I thought._

 **A/N: Hello, my beautiful people! It is I, Lady Fluff, the second owner of this profile. I heard that Flapjack had been writing this and neglected to tell me, so as punishment, he had to let me write this chapter without him. Mwahahahahahahahah! Anyways, sorry that this chapter is soooooooo long, but I feel like there was no way that I could fit everything withing a 2k word cap. Hopefully, this chapter hit you with the feels a bit, but don't get too worked up yet. You still haven't heard Nick's story, which MIGHT be told in the next chapter, but then again, maybe not. Anyways, I hope you all had a good time reading. WE will try to get the next chapter up soon.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: WOW, WOW, WOW! Another chapter coming out to you guys, already! This chapter is brought to you by both Captain Flapjack AND me, Lady Fluff. I hope you've got some tissues handy, cause this chapter is gonna be an emotional roller-coaster ride! Okay, so without further ado, here we go!**

 **CHAPTER 05: MOMENT OF TRUTH PART 1**

As the morning light shown through the window, the covers rustled in Judy's room. She pulled the covers down and dared to open her eyes, only to experience a shooting pain and immediately close them again. _God!_ She drew a hand up to her head. _Where am I?_ She went to lick her lips, only to find that her entire mouth was dry. _Oh God. What is this!?_

* * *

It was 10:00 a.m. by the time Nick woke up, a pulsing headache ready to meet him. He stumbled out of his room and to the kitchen to fish a water jug out of the fridge. Popping the cap off, he closed his eyes and took a long swig. After setting the jug down, he pulled out his phone and pulled up a contact labelled 'Katie'. The phone rang for a few seconds, then a smooth voice answered.

 ** _Katie: Nick?_**

 ** _Nick: Hey Katie. Is Lily there?_**

 ** _Nick: Yeah, would you like to talk to her?_**

 ** _Nick: If that's okay, yes I would._**

 ** _Katie: Okay, just a second._** The phone went silent for a few seconds until he heard a yawn and his favorite voice.

 ** _Nick: Good Morning, Lily._**

 ** _Lily: Mmmm, good morning._**

 ** _Nick: Have fun?_**

 ** _Lily: Yeah, Katie and I stayed up all night last night._** Nick couldn't help but smile. _She's gonna be the death of me._

 ** _Nick: So I'm guessing that you're gonna want to sleep when you get back?_**

 ** _Lily: Definitely. Did you play last night?_**

 ** _Nick: No, I talked with a few new friends._**

 ** _Lily: You made some new friends? Yay! Can I meet them sometime?_** Nick's eyes widened. He hadn't thought about that. He never told Judy about Lily. What would she think about it? _Wait, why does it matter?_

 _Because it means she'll know more about you._

 ** _Nick: …Maybe. She's a fairly new 'friend', so I don't know how'd she'd react to you._**

 ** _Lily: Okay, well, Katie invited to take me to the fair today, so I was wondering if you'd be okay if I stayed with her for one more day?_** As if on cue, a lightbulb went off in Nick's head. _Perfect, one less thing to deal with._

 ** _Nick: Sure thing . do you mind if I talk to Katie really quick?_**

 ** _Lily: Sure._** Some ruffling could be heard before Katie was on the other line again.

 ** _Katie: So, it's okay for her to stay one more day?_**

 ** _Nick: Definitely. I've got some things to take care of over here, so take your time._**

 ** _Katie: Alright. Thanks. We'll keep in touch._**

 ** _Nick: Bye._**

Just as Nick turned off his phone, a blur of Grey busted through the door. Nick winced at the loud sound and Judy gazed around the room before setting her eyes on the Jug of water Nick had sitting on the table. Nick slid it forward and she jumped at it and began to chug the water. "Well, good morning to you too." He quipped and Judy held out her hand shaking it violently, communicating 'hold up, let me finish.' After she had drunk half the jug, she set it down and took a deep breath and looked over at Nick.

"Is that supposed to happen?"

"Well, you drank two-thirds of a bottle of Jack, soooo yeah." Nick slipped out of his chair and opened up the freezer, grabbing an ice pack and tossing it to Judy. She placed it against her forehead and fell onto the couch. The moment her body hit the couch, the door flung open again as the rest of the band entered the room. As the door hit the wall, everyone winced and Nick groaned. "Dammit, we're all hungover. stop making loud noises." The response was a collective groan from the three who then proceeded to grab another jug of water.

Just as they began to sit down, someone knocked at the door, causing yet another collective wince from the band. The knob twisted and a striped bunny in jeans and a white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves walked in. He looked at everyone who were cradling their jugs like they were their precious child.

"What did I miss?" His British accent, which was normally silky smooth, sounded like sandpaper on their ears. He walked to the cabinet and searched for a bottle of Advil. Grabbing a couple of bottles, he turned and tossed them to the band. "Take a few. It helps with the headache. Plus, I need you all sober."

"Why? What's going on?"

"I've gotten you a gig."

As if the hangover had suddenly been purged from their systems, they all shot up and looked straight at the bunny.

"That's impossible. We just signed you on. How-"

"I took the liberty of putting the Sidewalk Citizens name out in public, tagged with a few videos from last week, and a venue opened up immediately. Have any of you ever heard of Pawlapalooza?"

If Nick's eyes widened any more, they might just have popped out of their sockets. He knew the question was rhetorical. _Everyone_ has heard of Pawlapalooza. It was Zootopia's biggest music festival. Aspiring musicians as well as famous ones came together for 3 days of music celebration. Nick had tried multiple times to land a spot on their list, but sadly, he never got a chance.

"You're kidding."

"No, actually. You've got the spot." Nick sat there, dumbfounded, but the rest of the band began jumping up and down, running around and yelling. "Alright, alright. Hold up, there is one catch. You have to audition. If they think you're good enough, they'll let you play." Then the band got quiet. Jack took notice of this, and continued. "Auditions are tonight and yours is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., so I'd suggest getting a few songs in order. I'll see you tonight."

And with that Jack left through the door, closing it behind him. The five of them immediately began scrambling to their rooms to get changed. Nick slipping into a pair of black jeans and a loose white t-shirt, Judy into a pair of plaid skinny jeans and a black tan-top, Noah in a pair of grey jeans and a black button-up, Joey in black joggers and a white plaid shirt, and Finnick shirtless and a pair of Black jeans. They met back up in the main room, and grabbed their instruments, and headed downstairs to the empty garage to practice.

* * *

It was 6:30 and the band had spent the entire time practicing. They had played about 8 songs until they settled on two of them: one to play, and one for backup. They were now sitting in Finnick's van, in the parking, about to walk into Pawlapalooza. They hopped out and began unloading their instruments. Nick took a quick glance at Judy and everyone else. They all had the same look that he had on his face: a mix of nervousness and wonder. _God, how the hell did we get here?_ Nick thought to himself. _It was literally last week that we were a dead-beat band and some country bunny. Now we're getting our shot to become something more; to do what we love._

He stood up after checking that he had everything he needed. The rest of them followed suit, and he made eye contact with each one of them. There was a moment of silence before he spoke up.

"I'm guessing we could really use a motivational speech right now, huh?" They chuckled with him, for a second. "Alright guys, tonight's the night. We get this right, we can have a chance to have everything we ever wanted, so let's do this right, huh?" He held out his fist and, as cliché as it was, they placed theirs to it, a look of determination filling their faces.

 _Tonight's OUR night._

* * *

 _Holy shit, that's a lot of bands!_

Nick, Judy and the others all stood at the doorway, amazed at the number of mammals that were here for an audition.

"That's a lot of mammals." Nick turned to look at Judy, whose face conveyed nervousness again, and, without thinking, he placed a paw on her shoulder. She looked at him, but his face was still looking at the crowd.

"Overwhelming, I can imagine." They turned to see Jack walking up behind them. "But don't worry, I have faith in you. Come one" He gestured for them to follow him. "We need to sign you in."

* * *

Judy was sitting by herself at a table. Noah, Finnick and Joey went to go check the equipment and Nick was grabbing food for them. She had nothing to do, so she pulled out a notepad and began writing.

 _She lives in a fairy tale  
Somewhere too far for us to find  
Forgotten the taste and smell  
Of a world that she's left behind_

She smiled at the lines she wrote. Anytime she was bored or needed to let out some stress, she always settled with writing. However, before she could write anything, she heard laughing behind her. She turned to see that the source of the laughter was a band looking at her. Her expressions hardened and her brow furrowed.

"What's so funny?" She questioned them, and they realized that she took notice. A hyena in ripped jeans spoke up.

"Nothing… It's just that we were wondering what a cute little bunny like you was doing here." She winced at the sound of him calling her cute.

"Don't call me cute, and I'm here for the same reason as you. I'm auditionings" The laughter resumed.

"Really!? No offense, sweetheart, but what makes you think that you stand a chance? You're just a little bunny!"

"So what! I'm gonna nail that audition! Just you wait." The laughter reached its peak as it became an all-out guffaw.

"Sure thing. Hey! If it doesn't work out, we can always use a couple of cute groupies around." Her cheeks puffed out in anger, but then fear overcame her: fear of failure. _What if we don't make the cut?_

"HEY!" They all turned to see Nick standing off to the side. He set the food he was carrying on Judy's table. "I suggest that you stop talking. After all, with a mug like yours, I'm surprised that you even showed up." The hyena and his band went silent. "Ooh, you can dish it out, but you can't take it, can you? Scram." And with that, they left.

Judy was so confused. Why was Nick doing this? I mean, sure, she was part of the band, but he wasn't ever really that nice to her before. Why defend her? _Why now?_

"Never let them see that they get to you." She looked up to see nick handing her a cup. She took it and looked back at him.

"So, things do get to you?"

Nick still, not looking at her, shook his head. "Well, not-not anymore, but I was... small and emotionally unbalanced like you once." She rolled her eyes.

"Har har."

"No, it's true. I think I was eight. Maybe nine, and all I wanted to do was join the Junior Ranger Scouts. So, my mom scraped up enough to buy me a brand new uniform because, by God, I was going to fit in, even if I was the only predator in the troop: the only fox. I was gonna be a part of a pack." Judy smiled at the thought of Nick in a Ranger Scout uniform: at the idea of him being all goody-two-shoes.

"But," She looked back up at him, his eyes lost in the memory. "after I recited the oath, they threw me to the ground and forced a muzzle on me." Her eyes widened as tears threatened to spill. "They told me that they could never trust a fox without a muzzle.

"I learned two things that day. One: I was _never_ gonna let anyone see that they got to me." He was silent before judy spoke up.

"And two?"

"If the world was only gonna see a fox that was shifty and untrustworthy, there was no point in trying to be anything else." The was another moment of silence, before Nick spoke one more time.

"Of course that wasn't the end of it. No, I never learned lessons very easily. I tried my best to shut out the world, but some people just wouldn't take it." Judy looked up, and this time, Nick's eyes began to water before he blinked it away. She placed a paw on his arm.

"… I met someone." He looked down at her, eyes filled with a mix of happiness and sorrow. "She was this beautiful artic fox named Aurora. I tried to push her away, but no matter what I did, she kept trying to stay with me. I fell in love with her, and we were happy."

"What happened."

"We were… young, filled with emotions, and we let them get the best of us." It took Judy a moment, but she realized what he was talking about. "She dropped out of school to raise the baby. Her parents disowned her, so mine took her in. And everywhere we went, she was mocked, insulted, spat on." His voice shook as he continued. "One day, she was walking home from a grocery store, and a car hit her dead-on." His eyes began to water again, but this time, he didn't try to stop them. "By the time she made it to the hospital, she had lost too much blood, and was pronounced DOA (Dead On Arrival)." Silence again. Judy didn't know what to say, so she just sat there with him.

"You know what really kills me though?" Judy looked up at him. The happiness was gone, and all that was left was sorrow and anger. "The car that hit her just drove off. And everyone hat saw it? _No one_ called an ambulance. They just left her on the street." He let out a bitter laugh, and Judy was, again, at a loss for words, so she did the only thing she thought reasonable.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. They stayed that way for a while until Nick did something Judy didn't expect: He wrapped _his_ arms around her and hugged back.

"Thanks Carrots." He pulled away, eyes dry and relieved. "I needed that."

"That's what family's for, right?" Nick smiled, but for the first time, it was a genuine one. "Any other sad stories you'd like to share?" he chuckled under his breath, then shook his head,

"None that I'd like to share in public. Maybe one day, in the comfort of the apartment, where no one can see me cry my eyes out like a baby." Judy smiled sympathetically. Nick has had a history of bad luck, and as much as she wished he could just pour it all out, she knew that getting Nick to truly open up fully was going to be a process, but one day…

Nick then felt arms wrap around his neck and he fell backward a bit.

"Surprise!" Hearing that voice he knew so well, he smirked and reached his arms behind him grabbing the assaulter by her sides. There was a yelp and then a blur of Red and White before a small Artic fox with red streaks in her fur landing in Nick's lap. She giggled and hugged him tightly around the neck and Nick responded in kind.

"Mmph! Hey sweetheart." He pulled her away. "What're you doing here?"

"She heard that her dad was auditioning for Pawlapalooza and she wanted to see you play." Nick and Judy turned to see a slender black panther walk over to them.

"Hey Katie."

"Dad? Katie?" Judy turned to Nick, anticipating an answer.

"Judy, this is Lily, the baby I told you about in the story. Katie here is her tutor. Katie, Lily, this is Judy. The newest member of the band and," He looked at her for a second, then smiled warmly again.

"My friend."

 **A/N: Flapjack: Holy crap!** **Another OC!**

 **Fluff: It's only fair.**

 **Hey guys it's Flapjack and Fluff! So this is getting a little crazy here. So here's the first part of Nick's story, though it won't be the last. We feel as though it would be better if we kinda spread Nick's story across the fic. Hopefully you liked the chapter. For those who are wondering about the lyrics Judy was writing, it was _Brick by Boring Brick_** **by Paramore.**

 **Flapjack: As always, if there's something you'd like to see more or less of, please let us know.**

 **Fluff: Praises and Critiques are welcome.**

 **Flapjack: Other than that, that's about it! We'll see you guys next chapter!**

 **Fluff: Till next time!**


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 06: MOMENT OF TRUTH PART 2**

Finnick didn't know what was up with Nick and Judy for, but whatever it was, he liked it. They were more in sync and

there was less fussing. _Finally, some peace and quiet_. Ever since that Hopps girl joined the band, things were going crazy. Don't get him wrong; he likes her, but a chance to relax was nice. They were up in a few minutes, but before they got on stage, he wanted to close his eyes for just a second.

"Finnick, we're up!" Joey called out and his eyes popped open. _Crap._ He snatched his sticks off the table. _Here we go._

* * *

When Nick thought of catching his big break, he thought it would be relieving, not so terrifying. He was shaking. _Literally_ shaking. Judy saw him, and gently punched him on the shoulder.

"Hey everything's gonna be alright." She reassured him, though if she were honest, he knew she was just as much reassuring herself. This was the moment he was waiting for, but more importantly, this would be the first time that Nick and the guys catch a break since childhood. They were going to get this right. They _needed_ to get this right.

The last band before them had just finished. Savage had landed them the final spot in the auditions, which would be the best spot or musicians if they were good. Sure it was one thing to be at the beginning and set the standard for all of the other bands that play, but if you were good enough, then the last thing that the judges would hear would be your band, blowing away the rest of the competition.

 _If_ you were good enough.

"Next up is a band called the Sidewalk Citizens." The elderly pangolin that introduced the bands stated before walking off the stage. Nick looked back at the four and nodded and they walked on-stage. Scattered claps could be heard from other bands that had already played. Nick and the others got to their positions and Noah handed Judy a mic. Nick, after hooking up, stepped up to the mic.

"Hey, everyone, we're the Sidewalk Citizens. I'm Nick, the husky on the guitar is Joey, the tiger on the bass is Noah, the fennec on the drums is Finnick, and the bunny over there is Judy. We hail from… everywhere, really, and we'd like to thank you for letting us play for you tonight" _Thank you for letting us play tonight? Real smooth there, Nick._

He could see some bands sitting around in the audience, including the hyena that made fun of Judy earlier. And in the middle was a group of four judges. _Why is it always four judges?_ He thought. One of them, a porcupine with a British accent spoke.

"Well, thank you for that introduction. Now, if you don't mind telling us what you'll be singing?"

Nick cleared his throat, and looked around the room one more time to see Lily and Katie off to the side, egging him on. Shaking his head, he spoke, "Right. We're gonna be playing an original of ours, titled 'Irresistible'. We hope you enjoy it." And with that he turned to Finnick, who tapped a beat. Joey switched to a keyboard and plucked out some notes in the sound of trumpets, then looped it. Nick tapped his foot for two measures, then lifted his mouth to the mic.

 _"Coming in unannounced, drag my nails on the tile. I just followed your scent, you can just follow my smile. All of your flaws are aligned with this mood of mine. Cutting me to the bone, nothing left to leave behind"_ he started to lose himself in the music as Noah and Joey joined in.

 _You ought to keep me concealed just like I was a weapon. I didn't come for a fight but I will fight till the end. And this one might be a battle, might not turn out okay. You know you look so Seattle, but you feel so LA."_ Then he heard Judy join in.

 _"_ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh_ _._ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh."_ Then she cut off while he continued. _"And I love the way you hurt me."_ He swung his guitar forward and the kick sounded.

 _"It's Irresistible."_ He strummed downward and saw heads nodding to the beat. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _."_ Judy joined in with a harmony _"_ _Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby."_ He paused as Judy sauntered forward to sing the next lyrics.

 _"I'm gonna get you to burst just like you were a bubble" and Nick replied._

 _"Frame me up on your walls, to keep me out of trouble"_

 _"Like a moth getting trapped in the light by fixation"_

 _"Truly free, love it baby, I'm talking no inflation"_ then together, Judy harmonizing.

 _"Too many war wounds and not enough wars. Too few rounds in the ring and not enough settled scores."_

 _"Too many sharks and not enough blood in the waves."_ Judy sang and Nick replied once more.

 _"You know I give my lover a four letter name"_

 _"_ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh_ _._ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh. And I love the way you hurt me."_ As the beat sounded again, Nick looked around. The crowd was getting into the beat, now. _"It's Irresistible."_ They all played again and Nick could hear voices joining in. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _."_ The kick sounded again. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _._ _I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby."_ Suddenly the instruments cut off, and it was just the drums as Judy sang.

 _"_ _You're second hand smoke. You're second hand smoke. I breath you in, but honey I don't know. What you're doing to me. Mon Cheri, but the truth catches up with us eventually."_ She sang as people clapped, then Nick pulled the mic off the stand as Joey and Noah joined Finnick again.

 _"Tryna say live, live and let live. I'm no good good, admit to this_ _._ _Second is yours, mi amour. I'm coming for you, and I'm making war."_ He walked back to his spot and placed the mic back on the stand and swung his guitar forward.

 _"I still love the way I hurt you,"_ Sang as she looked at Nick and he smirked as the kick sounded.

 _"It's irresistible,"_ Nick sang as Judy did some vocal improvisation _._ _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _."_ The kick sounded for the last time. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _._ _I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby."_ And the instruments stopped as Nick, Joey and Noah vocalized.

 _"_ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh_ _._ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh."_ And they stepped away from the mics…

And the room erupted in clapping and whooping and hollering. Nick hadn't noticed during the performance, but the stands were now filled with all of the other bands who must have decided to come watch. He looked back at the others, all with huge smiles on their faces. He was exhausted and sweaty, but he was also relieved. They had not only did good. They _killed_ it. They turned to look at the Judges, who were still donning their poker faces. One of the judges, a giraffe, cleared her throat and spoke.

"We'd like to thank you for participating in our auditions. We will inform you on whether you will be playing in the upcoming festival."

For a second, Nick felt like he had been punched in the gut, but then realized that they couldn't make decisions right then-and-there, so he thanked them and they stepped off stage. Jack gave them a nod as they began packing up their instruments and Lily came running to hug Nick.

"You did so good, daddy!" Nick couldn't help but smile. She always knew how to lighten up his day.

"Thanks, sweetheart." He heard a cough behind him and turned to see the giraffe judge standing there. They all looked at her before she stretched her arm out or a pawshake.

" _Technically_ , I'm not supposed to be giving any congratulations to any bands in order to prevent favoritism, but what I saw. What I _heard_ out there was something different. I hadn't seen any musician here that was as much in love with music as you all were. So -off the record- well done. You'll definitely have my vote." Nick smiled and shook her hoof eagerly. She nodded to him and walked away. Nick turned back around to the others, the smile still on his face.

"Well, that's one judge. Three more to go." They all laughed, and he gestured towards the exit. "Come on, let's get home."

* * *

 _10:00 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens' room_

"Okay, if a kit is living here, then these living conditions are unacceptable!" Judy exclaimed after tripping over a pile of dirty clothes, earning her a collective laugh from the others.

"See, that's exactly what I mean!" Katie lamented as she regretfully pried herself from Noah's arms to help her. Judy had found out that Nick had met Katie through Noah, her boyfriend. She normally roomed with Noah, but she and Lily had gone camping for the week.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Nick asked.

"I don't know! How about clean up the place?"

"That might not be a bad idea." Jack spoke.

"Oh, not you too."

"She has a good point. You guys are gonna need to maintain your appearance, and the best way to maintain an appearance simply to live that way."

"Okay, well, we aren't superstars yet, so how about we do it tomorrow?" Just as he stated that, there was a knock at the door. Jack got up to check to see who it was. He opened the door, conversed with whoever it was and closed it. He turned around with an open letter in his hand.

"What is it?" Joey asked, and Jack held up ha finger. His grew more somber as he read to himself then closed the letter. Nick knew that look. He'd worn it plenty of times before. It was a look of defeat.

"Go ahead Jack, we can take it." Jack looked around the room, and began.

 _"Dear Sidewalk Citizens, regarding your audition this evening, we took it upon ourselves to make a decision. We conveyed said decision to the executive manager of the upcoming festival and he agreed with our judjment. This was not something we chose lightly, and we have decided…"_ The band as well as Katie and Lily began to hang their head in defeat. _"… to allow you to debut on the first night of the festival as well as play on the last."_ As if by magic, their heads shot up, eyes wide. Jack smiled and continued.

 _"Normally, we send these letters two days after auditions, but you had performed so well that we had decided to let you know as soon as possible. We have big expectations and high hopes for the five of you. We hope to hear from you again soon. Until then, keeping rocking on. Signed the judge board of the Pawlapalooza audition system."_ By now, the entire room was jumping all over the place. There were screams, howls, guffaws, and a couple tears of joy. Nick looked over at Judy, who looked over.

"Well, I guess we _have_ to clean the room now."

* * *

 **A/N: Flapjack: Didn't we just post a chapter an couple o' hours ago?**

 **Fluff: I know, but I** ** _really_** **wanted to post this one.**

 **Flapjack &Fluff: Hey everyone. Surprise! We decided to go ahead and post this chapter because we felt like we ended the last chapter on a bit of a sad note, so we decided to post this one. We really liked this chapter and we hope that you liked it too. The song that was played at the audition was ****_Irresistible_** **by Fall Out Boy featuring Demi Lovato. We made Katie Noah's girlfriend because she sounded so much like that character's actual person's girlfriend, plus, we needed to explain how Nick met Katie. Next chapter is gonna be more Katie, Lily and Judy focused, so stay tuned and we'll try to get that out to you as soon as possible.**

 **Flapjack: Hit that fave/follow button!**

 **Fluff: Leave reviews! What'd you like? What'd you maybe not like?**

 **Flapjack: but until next chapter…**

 **Fluff: We hope you guys have a good time making memories!**

 **Flapjack &Fluff: Catch ya on the flip-side!  
**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Flapjack: Okay, so there's a couple of things that we need to clear up or let you know before we let you read this chapter. First things first, Pawlapalooza is not our idea. It's NeonJackal's from his Warmbloods fic, which is frickin' AMAZING, so if you haven't read it, you need to do that. We're also gonna be introducing an anti-interspecies group called Kind With Kind (KWK) in this chapter. KWK is** ** _also_** **not ours, but a group made by Pulltogether, another AMAZING writer. You're gonna learn a little more about everyone's favorite emotionally constipated fox in this chapter as well. There's also a little surprise near the end of the chapter for you.**

 **Fluff: Will you just let them read?**

 **Flapjack: [grumbles] fine.**

 **CHAPTER 07: A KIT, A LOVE, AND A REUNION**

"I've gotta say, this is a _really_ nice apartment, now that it's clean." Judy stood in the middle of the room, admiring the work they had gotten done the night before. The room was quite spacious with brick walls and a nice wooden tile floor. She peered out the now-clean windows at the park below.

Judy had managed to get the guys to clean up the apartment, and after washing 10 baskets of laundry, cleaning 7 loads of dishes, and vacuuming all of the rooms, the flat was looking _very_ nice. The boys (Jack included), however, were now asleep on the couches. Katie and Lily tittered to themselves at the table and Judy walked over to them.

"So, what do you guys like to do on Sundays?"

"Well, Lily and I usually go out with Nick to the central park. But seeing as how he's asleep, would you like to join us?"

Judy beamed at the two "Sure."

* * *

Judy was surprised that within the week that she had moved here that she had never taken a walk through the park before. The park was circular in shape and had a seasonal framer's market inside of it. Everywhere she looked, she could see kids playing, fruits being sold, or plants flourishing. She heard a whistle and turned around to see Katie toss an apple to her. She grabbed it and took a bite. It was one of the sweetest apples she had ever tasted, rivalling the ones she ate back at home.

"How is it?" She asked.

"It's just as good as the one's back at home.

"I'd hope so, most of the fruits sold here were either grown in the Deciduous Domain or brought from farm-towns outside the city." Judy took another bite as she and Katie sat down on a nearby bench and watched Lily play with a friend.

"So, you and Noah, huh?"

"You're not against interspecies relationships, are you?" Katie looked over at Judy, a hint of concern in her eyes.

"Oh, No! Not at all!" Judy assured her. And she wasn't. She knew that interspecies relationships were not unheard of, but that doesn't mean that they were widely accepted by society. She personally didn't see what was wrong with it. If yu love someone, why should you let species get in the way of that? "I was just wondering how you two met."

Katie sighed in relief for a second. "Sorry, I was just a little concerned. Well, it was actually Joey that put us together. I was in a bad relationship with an abusive boyfriend, but I was afraid of what he would do if I tried to leave. Joey heard about it and told me that he would deal with the problem. Sure enough, my boyfriend called me up two days later apologizing for everything he did and said that I'd never have to see him again. I went to thank Joey, and he introduced me to Noah. We didn't start dating immediately because I wasn't ready for another relationship, and he was _very_ patient with me, but we were very close, and I guess that by the time that I was ready for a relationship, we were already in one."

"Oh my god, that is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard! You sound like you two are really happy together."

Katie smiled warmly. "Yeah, we are." Then she shook her head and laughed. "But don't think it was always that way. We've gotten angry with each other plenty of times. She was one time where I couldn't even stand being in the same room as him!" Judy looked confused.

"How did you get through that."

"Because," Her eyes softened again. "we love each other, and that's more than just some warm fuzzy feeling. It's a commitment to stick with one another through thick and thin."

"Did you ever think about calling it quits?"

"Once." She winced at the memory, and looked over at Lily. "If you hadn't noticed, interspecies couple aren't welcomed by everyone. There's this one anti-interspecies group called 'Kind With Kind', or the KWK, who actually trashed Noah's bike once, painting the word 'freak' on it." Judy's brow furrowed.

"It continued to get worse. Certain shops refused to serve us, some ran us out their stores, and some people we called friends spat in our faces." Judy's need for justice was now growing out of control. _Who in their right mind does something like that?_

"It got so bad that I wondered whether being with Noah was going to hurt him and me more than it was worth it." Katies grey eyes turned somber as they glazed over.

"So what happened?"

* * *

 _7:00 p.m. Central park picnic grounds. 1 year ago_

The sun was setting on the horizon, leaving a beautiful orange glow on the ground, but Katie's mind was more occupied on the events pf the past few days. She and Noah had been thrown out of three restaurants and two stores, and on top of that, Courtney, a bobcat she knew since high school, just up and turned on her, calling her an 'interspecies whore'.

Noah had planned this evening perfectly, using it as a way to take her mind off the problems, but he could see it wasn't working out too well.

"So, are you hungry? I cooked some of that Japanese curry that we had a week ago, but I'm not sure whether I got the spices right or no-"

"What are we doing, Noah?" Noah looked at Katie, her eyes distant, almost ghostly.

"We're having dinner."

"I mean what are we doing with our lives." Noah dreaded this question. He went back to unpacking the food from the basket as he replied.

"We're living. We're together, and not everyone likes it. Not our problem."

"But isn't it?" He looked back up to see that Katie's eye were now looking at him, tears threatening to spill from them. "I mean, what if it is. Is this relationship really worth it if it means tha-" Noah's paws shot out and grabbed her shoulders.

"No." His eyes were now getting misty as well. "Don't you say that. This relationship is worth it. _You_ are worth it! You will _Always_ be worth it!" He pulled her into a tight hug and she sobbed into her shoulder.

"I love you, Katie! I will _always_ love you! And the world can curl up and die if they think that they can do a damn thing about it!" His voice broke as tears began to roll down his own voice.

Katie's eyes widened at his proclamation and wrapped her arms around him, still crying.

* * *

"I was the first time that I ever heard say he loved me, and it was at that moment that we decided that we would stick together… no matter what" The black panther's eyes glossed over and so did Judy's.

"That's beautiful, Katie." Katie nodded slightly, then shook her head, a smile returning to her face.

"But enough about me. What about you? A beautiful doe like you probably turns a lot of heads, right?" Judy laughed a bit nervously.

"Heh, not really. I was a pretty lonely kid growing up. I was a cute kit, and then I went through this awkward stage in high school, and I wasn't that popular during that time."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you're a beautiful doe now and you've got a big heart."

"Well, thanks." They sat in silence for a while, until she heard some of to the side playing a ukulele, singing words that she knew. She craned her neck to hear the words.

 _She asked me 'Son, when I grow old_

 _Will you buy me a house of gold?_

 _And when your father turns to stone,_

 _Will you take care of me?_

She got up and listened closer.

"You hear something, Judy?"

"That song. I know it."

"What song?" Then she heard it. "Oh, that? That's one of Nathan's songs. He plays with Nick at Dominic's sometimes."

"Nick knows Nathan!?"

* * *

Nick slowly opened his eyes as sleep finally purged itself from his system. He lifted himelf up ,swatting away Joey's hands. He walked over to his room and grabbed his notebook and began scribbling.

 _Sometimes quiet is violent_

 _I find it hard to hide it. My pride is no longer inside,_

 _It's on my sleeve, My skin will scream_

 _reminding me of who I killed inside my dream_

 _I hate this car that I'm driving_

 _There's no hiding for me_

 _I'm forced to deal with what I feel_

 _There is no distraction to mask what is real_

Nick smiles as writes the next line.

 _I could pull the steering wheel._

And just as Nick finished, Judy barged inside. She glared around the room before her eyes met Nick's. she stomped over to him and shoved his chest.

"You lied to me."

"About what?"

"You said you didn't know Nathan." _Uh oh. Jig's up._

"I never said that." _Play it cool. Buy some time._

"You never told me that you knew him!"

"Well, I didn't until you told me your brother's name was Nathan." Now everyone else was up.

"What's all the noise about?" Jack lifted himself, rubbing his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Judy's tone was one of anger, but her face conveyed hurt. _I thought we were getting close._

Nick glanced around the room, and then saw Katie step through the room, mouthing the words ' _He's here'_ , then he smirked and looked back at Judy.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"With what?" She questioned, the hurt conveyed in her eyes now evident in her tone. Then she heard Joey speak.

"Oh, hey Nate!"

"Hey guys. Just thought I'd drop by real quick."

Judy's eyes widened as she heard a voice she hadn't heard in years. She turned around to see a bunny with a dark gray coat clad in a jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt.

"Nathan?"

"Hey there, Jude. How've ya been?"

 **A/N: Flapjack: Aaaaaaaaaand cut!**

 **Fluff: WHAT!? You're gonna leave them with that!?**

 **Flapjack: Why not?**

 **Flapjack &Fluff: Hey everyone! We hope you guys really liked this chapter. Once again, we brin some more backstory and a cliffhanger for you. This one is a bit shorter, but we figured that we put everything that we needed to and that there was no reason for us to add more. **

**Fluff: So, about Noah's girlfriend: As you know, Katie is based off of Noah's actual person's real girlfriend. Well, guess what? This backstory is** ** _also_** **based off of their relationship in real life as well! Yep, Flapjack helped her out with her abusive boyfriend, and he did introduce he to 'Noah'. The only different thing is that instead of racial issues, 'Katie' was actually engaged to someone else, but it was more of an arranged marriage for political reasons (Yeah, that still happens) She ran away with Noah and they eloped, and because of that they were pretty much hated.**

 **Flapjack: So, about the lyrics: the ones the mammal was singing at the park was** ** _House of Gold_** **Twenty-One Pilots and the lyrics Nick was writing was** ** _Car Radio_** **, also by Twenty-One Pilots. That's pretty much it. The next chapter is gonna come out maybe tomorrow, but most likely Saturday or Sunday.**

 **Fluff: But until then, hit those fave/follow buttons!**

 **Flapjack: give us reviews! We're insecure!**

 **Fluff: and we'll see you next time!**


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 08: WOUNDS AND WIVES PART 1**

Nathan was nervous. More than that: He was freaking _terrified_. It had been four years since he'd seen his little sister and he was worried she'd be disappointed that he'd not made it as big as he had hoped. Or worse: She'd _pity_ him. But all of his fears didn't matter anymore, because he was now at the top floor of Nick's apartment.

Nathan had met Nick and the guys one night after being rejected by 4 different labels. They had landed him a spot on Dominic's play list, which was pretty nice, but not where he wanted to stay. Then Nick just up and calls him two days ago, saying that he met his sister and that they should meet up for a little 'Family Reunion'.

So, here he was. He could see Katie and Lily standing outside, their faces filled with anxiety. Then Katie sees Nathan and steps inside, then ducks back out gesturing for him to walk in. As he does, he hears his sister interrogating Nick, her sweet voice laced with hurt.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"With what?"

"Oh hey, Nate!"

"Hey guys. Just thought I'd drop by real quick." He declared as he saw Judy tense up. She slowly turned around, her eyes conveying both shock and confusion.

"Nathan?" Nathan, though maintaining a smile on his lips, was dumbfounded. Who was this bunny? She had Judy's voice, her coat, even her eyes, but she was different. She wasn't that awkward high-school teenager he left at home four years ago. No, she was more mature-looking. More confident. More beautiful. _Oh, sis._ Then he snapped back to reality. _Say something, you imbecile!_

So he settled with "Hey there Jude. How've ya been?"

There was a moment where silence filled the room as Nathan and Judy stood there. But after a few seconds, he could see anger boiling up inside of her.

"'Hey there, Jude. How've you been?'" she questioned. "We don't see or hear from each other for four years, and all you do is say 'hi' calmly!?" _Yep, That's Judy._ He thought.

"Sorry." He held up his hands. "I thought tha-"

"You thought what!?" She marched over at him and jabbed him hard in the square of his chest with her finger. "Did you think that I'd be happy and overjoyed at the sight of you?"

"Hey, I said that I was sorry." He defended himself. Bad choice.

"No, sorry doesn't cut it!" He shoved him in the chest, knocking him down onto the couch, then started pacing. "Four years, Nathan! Four years! And did you call, or write a letter, or send a card or anything? No!" She stopped pacing and clamped her eyes, hoping that it would keep her from crying.

It didn't.

"You left me alone." She croaked as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I needed you, but you just left." There was another moment where no one said anything and the only things that could be heard were Judy's stifled sobs.

Then Nathan got up from the couch and went to wrap his arms around her. Judy tried to resist pulling herself from him, pushing against his chest, but eventually, she collapsed into his chest and began to sob into it. He stroked her ears as he held her.

"You're right, Jude." He spoke calmly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you." She continued to cry into his chest as the guys got up and left to give them some space. Nick followed them, placing a paw on Nathan's shoulder before walking out.

* * *

Judy felt horrible. Not only because she had cried her eyes dry into Nathan's chest, effectively leaving her eyes raw and sore, but also because she hadn't seen her older brother in years and the first thing she did when she saw him was yell at him.

"Here ya go: One mango peach smoothie." Judy turned to see Nathan with two smoothies in his hand. After her crying fit, Nathan had decided to take her out to the park, and though she had already been that day, she didn't mind coming back. "It's probably the best flavor, though honestly, they're all pretty good."

"Thanks." She took it in her paw. "And sorry." He looked at her funny.

"For what?"

"For being angry with you."

"Don't be sorry. It wasn't right for me to just leave."

"But I didn't need to yell at you."

"Eh, we're siblings. We're not always gonna get along." Judy giggle a bit and took a sip from her cup.

"So, how'd you meet Nick?"

"Well, we kinda connected after realizing that we both left our houses and our families behind without saying goodbye."

"Wait, Nick left his family on bad terms?"

"Yeah. It was after his girlfriend Aurora…" Nathan hesitated, and Judy placed a paw on his shoulder.

"I know. Nick told me." Nathan nodded, then cleared his throat before continuing.

"Right… Well, it was a few days after the funeral that he decided to just up and leave. His parents tried to get him to stay, but he was too far gone to listen to them, so they told the guys to go with him. He was 18 at the time, so I guess that he hasn't seen his family in… 7 years." Judy's eyes widened. It had been seven years since Nick had seen his family. They seemed like some kind of missing memory of his. He had no pictures, no stories, nothing. He never even talked about them. What Judy knew was only from what she heard from the guys. "Nick told me about that first year on his own: Waking up each night from nightmares, desperately looking for a job so he could take care of Lily, finding a way to get over Aurora… One day, he met this otter named Emmitt that owned a flower shop, and they gave him a job as a delivery boy. Olivia, Emmitt's wife, began talking with Nick, trying to help him with his anger. She told him that the best way to cope with it was to find an outlet to channel his emotions.

"One night, after having another nightmare about Aurora, he got up, went to his desk, pulled out a beat-up vinyl notebook and began writing. By the end of the night, he had written a song that he titled _Favorite Record_ , a tribute to Aurora. It was the first song he ever wrote. After that, he began writing more songs, channeling his emotions into them, and he began to alleviate his anger a bit."

"I'm still angry." Judy turned around to see Nick walking up to them. "I've forgiven the mammal that ran over her and the people who did nothing to help her, but it doesn't stop it from hurting as much as it does. Every day, I look at Lily and I'm reminded that she'll never get to meet her mother, and that kills me."

"Nick." Judy was tearing up again. How she even still had the ability to cry after everything was beyond.

"I'll probably be that happy fox that I used to be before all of it, but I also know that I'm where I am now because of everything that happened. I made friends at the ZPD, I began to write my own music, I met the two of you, and now, I'm gonna get a chance to do what I love." Nick began to smile. "Aurora is in a better place now, and I know that if she were here, she'd want me to keep moving."

Nick then felt tiny grey paws wrap around him as he fell backward. Judy had jumped up from her seat and pounced on him, wrapping around him in a hug that he didn't see coming, but he accepted gratefully.

"I'm sorry, Nick." She spoke, his voice slightly muffled by his shoulder. "You didn't deserve any of that."

"Maybe I didn't." He pulled her away and they got up. "But it happened, and there's no changing the past. and from it came some pretty amazing things." He smiled as he gestured down the walkway. "Let's not dwell too long in the past. Come on, we're all going out to dinner."

* * *

 ** _4:30 p.m. Otterton's flower shop, 10 days later_**

 _I dreamt of something terrifying_

 _Cause this time, there's no sound to hide behind._

Nick continued to write as he sat on the counter of the shop. He had been helping Mrs. Otterton around the shop for the past week or so since Mr. Otterton had left to pay a visit to his friend up in Gnu York. However, a part of him was worried. Emmitt had been gone for a while now, and there were rumors of predators going missing. His thoughts were interrupted by a quick bop on his snout. He yelped and jumped off the counter, seeing Olivia standing there sporting Nick's smirk and a rolled up newspaper in one hand.

"Sitting around on the job, Nick. You know better than that." Nick laughed a bit before resuming his job of pruning the rose bushes. "So, I heard that you were going to be playing at the upcoming music festival."

"Yeah, we are. But how did you-"

"Oh please, Nick. I don't live under a rock. I saw the flyers up around the town. You guys must've _really_ made an impression on the judges if they're letting you play the first night." Nick chuckled nervously as he continued pruning.

"Yeah, we've gained a lot of publicity lately."

"Well, that's good to hear. I hope you remember to pay Emmitt and I visits after you become a superstar."

"But of course." Nick assured her, then thought about his growing suspicions earlier. "Olivia?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you heard from Emmitt lately?"

"Um, No actually." She turned to Nick, looking concerned. "Why do ask?"

"Well, it's just… you know about the rumors, right?" He saw Olivia's brow furrow a bit.

"… Yes."

"I was just getting a bit concerned, seeing as how he's been gone for a while now."

"I know." She set down the flowers she was tending to and looked over at him. "I've been getting a bit worried myself." But before she could continue, the doorbell rang as they saw a grey bunny in a pink plaid shirt walk in. "Judy, It's good to see you again!" She went over to give Judy a hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Mrs. Otterton!"

"Please, just Olivia will do." Olivia told her. Nick had introduced Judy to Olivia a couple of days ago and they connected almost immediately. "So, I heard that you and Nick have been pretty busy lately."

"Yeah, we have. Speaking of which." Judy turned to Nick. "Nick, I got to know someone today. She says she knows you." Judy opened the door and four-foot arctic shrew with a beehive hairdo walked in.

"Nicky!" the shrew squealed in her Bronx accent. "It's been so long!"

"Fru!?" Nick looked a bit shocked to see Fru Fru standing there next to Judy. He hadn't seen the shrew in years.

"Yeah! Oh, Nicky, I met Judy at the Mousy's Department store downtown this morning, and she was just the biggest sweetheart I'd ever met!"

"We spent the day together."

"Oh." Nick spoke without thinking.

"To be honest, I was out looking for you, but then I met Judy and we got a bit distracted."

"You were looking for me?"

"Yeah, daddy and I wanted to invite you to my wedding!"

"Wedding!? You're Father!?"

 **A/N: Flapjack: Hey guys! It's me, the captain.**

 **Fluff: And the Fair Lady!**

 **Flapjack: And it's been a while, but today we bring to you the next chapter! Sorry if the wording seems to get a bit awkward near the end. We weren't sure what to do next. But it matters not! We have some notes about this chapter!**

 **Fluff: OK! First, the beginning of the chapter: In the original draft, Judy was hapy to see Nathan, but then we got** ** _this_** **review:**

 ** _GUEST: Okay hold on! Nathan and Judy have not seen each other for years, they are now standing in the same room, and all Nathan does is say hi calmly?!_**

 **So we decided to edit the chapter so Judy responds EXACTLY like that. So, thank you, guest reader! You influenced the flow of the chapter!**

 **Flapjack: Second is the lyrics plus Nick: the song** ** _Favorite Record_** **is by Fall Out Boy in case you wanted to listen to the song. Nick's life is unfolding a bit more, but we haven't gotten to matters of his family nor other** ** _possible_** **relationships he might have had, so don't think that we're done with his backstory yet!**

 **Fluff: Fru is getting married! We were originally going to make this chapter the conflict-point for Nick and Judy's budding friendship, but then we totally forgot to introduce the 'Big' family! So we did that instead.**

 **Flapjack: If you hadn't noticed, we went back and did some editing. We'll be refraining from using too much profanity. We don't care much for it, and we figured that way more people could read the fic without getting uncomfortable.**

 **Fluff: We also posted the next chapter, so go and read it! Do it now!**


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 09: WOUNDS AND WIVES PART 2**

"Wedding!? You're Father!?"

"Yeah Silly! I'm getting married!" Fru was overjoyed. Or maybe, that was just her bubbly personality. Sometimes, it was hard to tell the difference.

"When is it?"

"Tonight!"

"Tonight!?" Nick was glad he wasn't pruning the bush, lest he accidently snip off an entire section of flowers. This was not the first time Fru had pulled something like this on him, but anything concerning her father meant him preparing for something.

"Why does your father want me there?"

"It's not just him, Nicky! I want you there, too!" Nick smiled at her. Not many people get away with calling him Nicky, but he'd known Fru since they were children, so he didn't mind. "But he has some big news and he wants you to be there to hear it."

"Oh?"

"So, please tell me you're coming!" Nick crossed his arms and began rubbing his chin in feigned contemplation.

"Hmmmmm… Okay. We'll be there."

"Great!" The Shrew went up and hugged him before letting go and heading out the door. "I'll have Kevin pick you up at six thirty! See ya soon!"

"Bye!" Judy waved enthusiastically, then turned to smirk at Nick. "So, _Nicky_ , should we get going?" Nick turned to Olivia for confirmation, who motioned with her hands for them to get going.

"Go on! You two kids have fun! I'm meeting up with a friend in an hour anyway." And with that Nick set his pruners down and walked over to Judy and held his hands out.

"May I take your bags, milady?" He asked.

"Oh, such a gentleman." She quipped as she handed him her bags and they walked out of the shop.

* * *

 ** _6:25 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens' floor_**

Judy did a quick 360 at her mirror so she could take one last look at the dress that she bought earlier that day. The dress was a dark blue with a few white accents here and there. The dress hugged her body well and the pleated skirt was flowed well but wasn't poofy. All in all, she loved it. As she stepped out of her room and entered the main one, the guys all immediately stood up in surprise, a collective shocked expression on their faces.

"What?"

"You look… amazing, Judy." Joey stated, and Judy colored a bit at the compliment.

"Oh, stop it." She looked around in search of the red fox accompanying her to the wedding, then huffed in frustration when she didn't see him. "Where's Nick? We're supposed to get going soon."

"I'm in here!" She heard Nick call from his room. She walked in and was shocked at what she saw. Nick was standing over at his mirror… in a suit. It was a black suit that fitted his form quite well. He was wearing a white shirt and a champagne colored bow tie wrapped around his neck.

"Very nice, Slick." She stated as she turned him around to adjust his tie. He smirked and looked her up and down.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Carrots." He told her and then turned around quickly and brought back a white rose and pinned it to her dress "A gift, milady, from the Otterton family."

"Why, thank you, kind sir." She replied, and he smirked, then held out his arm.

"Shall we?" She smiled genuinely and looped her arm through his."

"Yes, we shall."

* * *

 ** _8:00 p.m. Big Residence_**

Nick was never really a big fan of weddings. They were big, fluffy family things that he just never really enjoyed. But this time, he was happy. He watched as his childhood friend said her vows and achieved her lifelong goal of finding true love. It was poetic, in a way. And now, they were out in the lit garden holding the reception. Music was playing, Judy was dancing with a shrew, Fru was dancing with her husband, everyone was having a good time. However, Nick hadn't seen Mr. Big at all at the reception. He wanted Nick here, and as much as Nick wanted to let it be, it kept gnawing at him.

 _Why did he want me here? What was so important that I had to be here?_

"Nicholas." He heard a heavy Italian accent and turned around to see Mr. big standing behind him with a cane.

"Mr. Big." He acknowledged the shrew and bent down to kiss his ring, but before he could, he saw Mr. Big shaking his head and holding out his paw.

"There's no need for that. Just a pawshake will do." Nick was surprised, seeing as how Mr. Big was one of the biggest crime bosses in Zootopia, yet he held out his paw as if Nick were his equal. Nick shook it and they stood there together, watching the reception carry out. "How have you been?"

"Very good, sir. My life has taken quite a turn for the better as of late."

"Good, good. Your family would be proud." Nick's brow furrowed at the mention of his family.

"Have you been keeping in touch with them?"

"Yes. They've been holding me accountable as usual."

Nick couldn't help but smile. "That's good to hear."

"That is, as a matter of fact, the reason you're here." Nick rose an eyebrow as he felt Mr. Big's paw press against his back as they walked forward.

* * *

The dancing had settled down and everyone was taking their seats as Nick and Mr. Big entered the room, and now everyone was eating and enjoying small conversation. After a few more moments, Judy saw Nick stand up and tap the side of his wine glass with his fork, to which everyone turned to look at him.

"Ladies and Gentlemammals, some of you may not remember me, but perhaps you remember a fox couple that came up alongside the Big family, serving as Mr. Big's conscience in his dealings. And perhaps you remember their child who served as Fru Fru's best friend during her younger years. Well, I was that child, and I knew Fru when she was just a tiny little thing… Well, tinier than she is now." A couple of chuckles could be heard around the garden. "and with your permission, I would like to say a few things to her tonight.

"Fru, you were… crazy back when we were kids. I remember how you and I got into all kinds of trouble and I distinctly remember how I would take the blame for all of it." More laughs from the group. "But I also remember how you would tell our parents about how _you_ were the one who came up with the pranks that we did. You've always looked out for others, often forsaking your own happiness for theirs. You may a little mammal, but you have a big heart." Fru Fru smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. "But now, you get a happy ending. You met Tony there, and now you two get to spend the rest of your lives together. That love is something that I hope you two cherish forever. So, in short terms, this humble fox wishes you two a long, loving marriage and that the Wilde family will always be around if you ever need us." The group began clapping, then Nick stepped to the side and held out his paw, which Mr. Big took to pull himself up.

"If you would indulge an old man in his ramblings I have a few things to add." The garden fell silent as Mr. Big looked over at Nick, who nodded to him. "Fru Fru, my youngest child and my only daughter, the love of my life, my pride and joy. You have always been there for your father, even though you didn't agree with his lifestyle, and over the past few years, I had to come to terms with the reality that you couldn't stay my little girl forever." Fru was tearing up some more. "I was worried about Tony at first. I didn't want you going down the same road that I took, but then I realized that he was leaving my organization to become a teacher, and I knew that you would be safe with him.

"I was going over, in my mind, what I could possibly give you as a gift. You know that I would give you the world if I could, but I know that there is one thing that you have always wanted. Which brings me to the reason Nick is standing here with me." Murmurs could be heard as the guests tried to guess at what Mr. Big was talking about. "Fru Fru, all your life, the one thing that you told me every birthday, every Christmas, every year, was that one day, all of this" He gestured around the garden. "Would end one day, and every year, I tried to. But this year, on this day, I… We" He placed his hand on Nick's shoulder. "want to give you the one thing you have always wanted." Fru's eyes widened as she realized what her father was talking about.

"My dear daughter, tonight, your father is a criminal no more."

There were gasps and more murmuring around in the garden. Koslov, a polar bear and Mr. Big's right-hand-man began to smile. "Starting tonight, there will be no more dealings, no more shady business partners, and no more gang activity." Fru Fru got out of her seat and ran up and gave her father a tight hug, which he smiled and returned. The garden erupted in clapping and cheers, then Fru opened her eyes and looked at Nick.

"So, how are you involved with this?"

"Your father is going to be supporting my band as a symbol of thanks to my family." She laughed and hugged him. "But the reason he's leaving the criminal underworld is because of you, Fru." He hugged her back as the clapping silenced, and Mr. Big spoke up.

"This is a night of new beginnings. We must celebrate! Judy, Nick, would you do us the honor of playing for us?" Nick looked over at Judy, who was shocked and slightly nervous.

"Uuuuhhhh, sure." They both responded. Nick took off his suit top and rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the band, who handed him a guitar that he realized was his father's. Judy walked up behind him.

"Hey." He turned around after slipping the strap over his neck. "What are we playing?" He began running through a couple of songs that they could possibly play before settling on one.

"Do you know you're brother's song _Like I'm Gonna Lose You_?"

Judy smirked. "I helped him write it." The Nick nodded as he pulled the mic up to his muzzle.

"This is a song called _Like I'm Gonna Lose You_. It's a reminder that we're not promised tomorrow, so we should love each other as much as we can today." He then began plucking notes on the guitar as Judy began singing.

 _"I found myself dreaming in silver and gold, like a scene from a movie that every broken heart knows. We were walking on moonlight, and you pulled me close. Split second and you disappeared and then I was all alone. I woke up in tears with you by my side. A breath of relief and I realized 'No, we're not promised tomorrow'."_ Then Nick switched to strumming and he heard the band playing behind him.

 _"So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you, and I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye. Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when, when we'll run out of time. So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you."_ Nick smiled as he switched to picking with his claws and stepped up to the mic.

 _"In the blink of an eye, just a whisper of smoke, you could lose everything. The truth is you never know. So I'll kiss you longer baby, any chance that I get. I'll make the most of the minutes and love with no regrets. Let's take our time to say what we want. Here's what we got before it's all gone, 'Cause no, we're not promised tomorrow."_ Then he switched to a harmony as Judy joined back in.

 _"So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you, and I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye. Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when, when we'll run out of time. So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you."_ Then Nick turned to the electric guitarist as he began soloing a bit before he turned back to the front as Judy began singing again.

 _"So I'm gonna love you,"_

 _"Ohhh."_

 _"like I'm gonna lose you"_

 _"Like I'm gonna lose you"_ Nick echoed.

 _"And I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye"_ Then they began harmonizing together. _"Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when, when we'll run out of time. So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you."_

As they finished, the garden erupted in claps and Fru and Mr. Big rose their glasses to them. Nick and Judy bowed as they smiled and thought.

 _It can only go uphill from here._

* * *

 _This just in: Mayor Leodore Lionheart arrested for the kidnapping of 16 predators around Zootopia. Mayor Lionheart pleads innocence, stating that "They were seemingly going savage, and that he caged them to protect the city." The 16 mammals were seemingly in a savage mental state, not responding to physical or verbal interaction._

 **A/N: Flapjack: Hey everyone, it's the Captain and the Fair Lady once again.**

 **Fluff: So we figured that we would put out two chapters today for you guys since you were all** ** _SO_** **kind and patient with us. We hope you liked this chapter. We were wondering how we were going to tie this together, and we settled on this.**

 **Flapjack: So Mr. Big knows Nick's family, too huh? What else is there about Nick that we don't know?**

 **Fluff: Yay! Nick has funding and support from the Big family, one of the most powerful families in Zootopia! That's good right!**

 **Flapjack: Except they jinxed their luck.**

 **Fluff: Freaking Dang-it, you're right! This isn't gonna spark some conflict in the future, is it?**

 **Flapjack: Maybe. [Chuckling Evilly]**

 **Fluff: The song is** ** _Like I'm Gonna Lose You_** **by Meghan Trainor Feat. John Legend**

 **Flapjack: We'd like to inform you on some of the details of this fic. We plan on making a crap-ton of chapters… like, 100 maybe [shrugs un-committedly], maybe less. We're gonna take some time with the next chapter because it's a turning point in the story, so bear with us.**

 **Fluff: Until then, hit tose fave/follow buttons! Leave reviews (We read them)! Critique the fic! Praise the Fic! Dow whatever, and we will see you next time!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Flapjack: WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! This is a very _HEAVY_ chapter. Things are gonna get a little complicated for everyone's favorite band members**

 **Fluff: So from what you read in the last chapter, things were looking pretty good for our favorite band. But  
HOLD UP! Mayor Lionheart has been arrested!? Uh oh, that can't mean anything good, can it?**

 **Flapjack: Well, Let's let them read for themselves. Buckle up, 'cause you're in for a bumpy ride.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 10: ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME?**

 ** _11:00 a.m. En route to Otterton's Flower Shop, 3 days later_**

Nick walked along the sidewalk, whistling to himself. The last few days had been good. He watched his childhood friend get married, he helped co-write a song with Nathan, and he was almost finished with his own song. On top of that, Jack had signed the band up for some kind of party being hosted for all the acts in the upcoming music festival. Nothing could bring him down.

Or at least that's what he thought before he made it to the flower shop.

Two Police officers, whom Nick made out to be Officers Fangmeyer and Grizzoli, were walking out of the shop, followed by a grief-stricken Olivia Otterton. He hurried up the pace to catch up to them.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Nick questioned, but Fangmeyer and Grizzoli only looked at him, sympathy in their eyes, then got into the squad car. Olivia, a sorrowful look in her eyes, placed a paw on Nick's shoulder.

"It's Emmittt, Nick." Nick's brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

"They found him, with the other 16 mammals that went missing." Nick's eyes widened at the sound of his underlying suspicions coming true, though he was hoping that he was wrong.

"But, you said that he had gone to see a friend." Nick was desperately hoping that this was all just some cruel joke.

"According to the officers, he never made it out." Olivia motioned for Nick to follow her as she got into the squad car.

"Well, then it's a good thing that we found him right?" _Why does she look so sad?_

"They said that he isn't the same, anymore, that somethings wrong with him." Olivia spoke, her voice not much louder than a whisper. "The officers are taking me to see him now. Can-can you come with me, dear? I don't know if I can do this alone."

Nick was silent, but he nodded as he placed his arm around her shoulder as they got into the squad car and sped off to the Zootopia General Hospital.

* * *

 ** _11:00 a.m. Dominic's_**

Judy sat at the counter, scrolling through her phone. She was waiting for Clawhauser at Dominic's so they could spend some time together seeing as how she hadn't seen much of him since she started playing with the guys. When she had called him, though, he sounded sad and her mind couln't help but wonder why it was. Just as she began to ponder on the observation, however, She heard the door creak open as Ben stepped in. She smiled and ran over to him, wrapping her arms as far as she could around him.

"It's good to see you Benji!" She exclaimed and she felt Ben's arms slowly wrap around her, but he remained silent. After they let go of each other she could see, by the look on his face, that something was wrong, but she wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to ask about it. "Sorry I haven't talked to you in a while. I've been swamped in things to do!"

Again, Clawhauser nodded to affirm that he was listening, but made no sound. They sat there in silence for a while before she piped up again.

"Hey, Benji, is something wrong?" Benjamin looked over at her and sighed deeply.

"Sorry, Judy. There's just been some trouble at work is all."

"What's going on?"

"Well," Clawhuaser began. "You're still fairly new to the city, so you probably haven't heard, butthere was a rumor about mammals, specifically predators, going missing. And yesterday, we received an anonymous tip that Mayor Lionheart had a piece of land out near the bayside that he kept private. We attained a search warrant and found that he was harboring 16 missing mammals." Judy's eyes widened.

"That's terrible! Who does something like that."

"That's not all." Judy calmed down and let Clawhauser proceed. "When we arrested Mayor Lionheart, he pleaded his innocence. He said that they had 'gone savage' and that he was trying to protect the public. And when we took another look at the kidnapped mammals, we realized that they _had_ gone savage." Judy's brow furrowed. _That can happen?_

"The doctors don't know for certain what's causing it, but since it seems that only predators are going savage, they're theorizing that it might be a component in our DNA that's causing us to _revert_ back to our savage ways."

Judy's eyes widened even further.

 _Could that be possible?_

* * *

Nick and Olivia stepped out into the parking lot, looking up at the General Hospital, then followed the officers inside. From there, they were directed to an elevator, which took them to the fifth floor: The psych ward. They walked silently down the hall, Nick's arm never leaving Olivia's shoulders. They entered a room with blacked out glass pane. Grizzoli stood watch outside the door and Fangmeyer stood next to a control panel.

"Are you two ready?" Olivia looked over at Nick, and though she was afraid of what she was going to see, she looked back at the screen and nodded. Nick turned his head towards Fangmeyer and answered.

"Go ahead." Fangmeyer flipped a switch and the blacked out glass then cleared up, and both Nick and Olivia quaked at what they saw.

It was Emmitt.

Or what they thought was Emmitt. He was writhing and fighting against the restraints on the bed that they locked him. His movements were violent and erratic, his fur disheveled and matted, his pupils reduced to a black dot. Olivia began to quiver as tears rolled down her cheeks and Nick pulled her in close.

"That's not my Emmitt."

* * *

 ** _3:00 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens floor_**

Judy had gotten back to the main room, closed the door behind her, and slid down to the floor. How had today's mood changed so quickly? One moment, she was in the best mood of her life. The next, she felt like she was going to throw up.

"You okay, cottontail?" She heard Finnick ask. She looked up to see the other band members staring at her. She stood up and dusted off her pants.

"Yeah, I guess I'm alright?" She sat down at the table and looked at the guys again. This time, she realized that they didn't look so happy either. "What's wrong?"

Joey flipped on the TV, which showed footage of what she now knew to be the savage mammals being treated at the General Hospital. Her eyes widened after seeing it with her own eyes.

"They're saying that the animals went savage." Joey stated, his expression remaining the same.

"Yeah, Clawhauser told me about it."

"So what does this mean?" Judy hadn't thought about that. What _did_ this mean? She didn't want to give any wrong answers, so she said exactly what she knew.

Nothing.

* * *

 ** _4:00 p.m. Otterton's Flower Shop_**

Nick and Olivia sat silently in the flower shop, taking in everything that they had seen that afternoon. Olivia was shocked and saddened to see her Emmitt reduced to a snarling monster, but she also knew that the doctors were doing everything to fix things, and she had faith in them.

Nick, however, was a stranger to concepts such as faith and hope. His mind was wrapped around the idea that his old friend may never be the same again, and that frightened him. But before his mind could torture him further, he heard the doorbells jingle as they opened and Jack stepped in.

"How'd you-"

"Finnick told me that you were here." Jack stated. "Come on, we're gonna be late as is and you need to dress in something more appropriate." Nick's brow furrowed.

"Listen, Jack, I know that you worked hard to get us where we are now, but I don't think I ca-"

"Go, Nick." He turned to see Olivia's paw on his shoulder, a sympathetic smile on her face. "I'll be fine here."

Nick wanted to protest, but past experiences revealed to him that even if he did, she would find a way to get him to go. He hugged her tightly and walked out of the door.

Jack began to walk out of the door, but turned to look at Olivia, who mouthed 'Take care of him'. He nodded and stepped through the door, following Nick back to the apartment.

* * *

 ** _4:30 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens floor_**

Just as Nick stepped through the door, he felt arms wrap around him and he staggered back. He looked down to see Judy there, a sorrowful look on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Nick."

"For what?"

"I met with Clawhauser. He told me about Emmitt." She hugged tighter and pondered whether to tell him what Clawhauser said the doctors were theorizing. She pulled away and saw Nick's distant expression and opted not to. She watched as Nick shook his head from his thoughts and came back to reality. He grabbed a blue plaid sport coat and tossed over his graphic tee.

"Come on, guys. Maybe tonight can help us take our minds off of things for a while."

* * *

 ** _6:30 Jungle gym Concert Hall_**

Tonight was _not_ helping him take his mind off of things. Finnick was up mixing with the DJ, Joey went off to flirt with some cheetah and Noah was break-dancing with an old school hip-hop band called Run ZMC. Nick originally thought about dancing, but decided not to. So, he opted to do one thing he knew would help him take his mind off of things: take a few shots.

Judy wasn't accustomed to parties, so this was a bit overwhelming to her. She decided that she would just tag along with Nick, though she wasn't really in the mood to drink. Nick pulled out two shot glasses and poured into both of them. He slid one to her.

"Care to have a drink with me?"

"And suffer the ramifications like last time?" Judy smirked at him, and he donned his own lopsided smile. She looked at the glass for the second, then downed its contents.

One hour later, and they had gone through an entire bottle. They were laughing, telling embarrassing stories and facts to each other.

"Really!? Foxes actually do that!?" Judy spoke through a fit of giggles. She wasn't quite drunk, but she was buzzed enough that she had pretty much forgotten all about the events of earlier today.

"Yeah. We just dive… headfirst into the snow." He watched as Judy continued to laugh and clutch at her sides. "Alright, alright, I's your turn now."

She fought to quell her fits so she could speak. "I'm not sure there's anything else." Then she remembered. "Well, I can play piano." Nick's eyebrows rose.

"Oh really? Well, that isn't funny nor embarrassing, but I'm interested nonetheless."

"forget it, Nick. Ou don't wanna hear about it." She heard Nick scoot closer, then place his elbows on the counter, resting his head on his hands. She tried to ignore him for a while, but eventually gave in.

"My grandma taught me." She ran her finger around the brim of the glass. "While Nathan taught me guitar, my grandma took notice of my talent and began teaching my piano. She told me music could speak." She smiled at the memory of grandma Sophie. "It could tell stories, teach lessons, and confess love. She considered music a living, breathing thing. She was the sweetest bunny in the world" Then her face fell. "Well, she was until she died."

Nick's ears fell back against his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's alright, you didn't know."

"So, why don't you play anymore?" Nick watched Judy as she searched for a reason.

"I don't really know, why. I guess I just stopped."

"Well, that just won't do." Nick grabbed Judy's paw and began led her away from the bar.

"Where are we going?" Judy asked as she tried to pull away.

"Just trust me." Nick stated without turning around. Eventually, they made it to a door being guarded by a huge black bear. Nick showed him the badge that they were given at admission, and the bear stepped to the side and opened the door. The two had just transitioned from loud sounds and flashy strobe lights to a quieter room and warm light. Judy gazed in awe at the room.

"What is this?"

"It's a music room." Nick continued to lead her by the paw as she looks around the room. She sees different mammals, including several famous ones, playing instruments here and there. He leads her to the middle of a room and she then realizes what he wants her to do.

Nick walks up to the piano in the middle of the room and pulls off the covers. Judy's eyes widened. It was a beautiful black grand piano. She walked up and glided her hand over the keys.

"Play it." She turned to look at Nick, who was now sitting on a chair he pulled up next to the music bench. Judy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I haven't played in years, Nick. I don't know if I can-"

"Trust me. As corny as it sounds, music is like riding a bike." He patted the bench cushion and she, reluctantly, sat down. She placed her fingers lightly on the keys and began to pluck out the beginning of _Clair de Lune_. After about one painstakingly timid measure, she hit a wrong note and pulled her paws away from the keys.

"See, I can't do this." Nick held up a paw and she quieted herself.

"Try again." She placed her fingers on the piano again, but Nick placed his fingers over hers, surprising her as she looked up at him. "This time, remember what your grandmother said: It's more than just a song. It's a story." He helped her along, until she became more confident. He lifted his fingers off of hers and sat back sown next to her. She began to play more fluidly, her fingers deftly hitting the keys with the skill of a practiced professional. Nick saw her eyes close as she let herself be consumed by the music, and for a quick second, he felt a twang in his heart, but he shook it off. He gazed around the room, and he saw artists, including Elkton John, Gazelle and Paul McCatney, all abandon their instruments as they walked over to listen to Judy play. He smiled and turned back to her. This bunny was truly something else. She managed to get him to open up to her, to start believing in things again… to hope again. _Judy, you truly are one special bunny_.

As Judy played that last of the notes, she opened her eyes and felt her fingers on the keys. They felt so light and fragile, as if they would break if she pressed any further. She heard clapping and turned around to see that the mammals in the room all around her. She looks at Nick with as much warmth as physically possible.

"Thanks for making me do this." Nick smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, I didn't make you do anything. Sure, I nudged you in the right direction, but you made the decision all by yourself." He then heard the sound of what every star despises: the sound of reporters entering the room.

They turned around to see them filing into the room, looking for the 'next big scoop'. The reporters caught sight of Nick and Judy and began climbing over each other to reach the two. By the time they made it over, the two were swamped in questions. Nick and Judy exasperatedly tried to answer whatever was asked.

"Nick, how does it feel to go from having nothing to suddenly getting the chance to have it all?"

"It's kinda overwhelming, honestly."

"Judy, how does it feel to be consumed by all of this so quickly."

"I guess it's like Nick said: overwhelming."

The reporters continued with their questions, but Nick began to realize that they were taking it towards the direction of the savage predator case. As much as Nick did his best to rope the interview back towards the upcoming festival, he knew that Judy wasn't nearly as used to crazy situations. And in the midst of all of the questions, one could be heard over all of them.

"What is going on with predators?" Judy was confused how this interview had taken such a crazy turn.

"I'm not quite sure how that has to deal with us?"

"You're the only prey in the band, is that correct?"

"Y-yes?" She stuttered, obviously not liking where it was going. Neither did Nick.

"We were wondering, if you had any insight as to why these predators were going 'savage'." Judy pondered whether _now_ was the time to use the information Clawhauser gave her. _Maybe, if I do, they'll leave us alone._

"Well, from what I had heard, the doctors are saying that it _might_ have something to do… with their DNA." Nick's brow furrowed in confusion. _What?_

"Ms. Hopps, would you care to explain?"

"Um, yes. What I mean is: thousands of years ago, um, predators used to survive through their… a-aggressive hunting instincts." Nick's mind brought him back to the ranger scout incident, and his confusion was now being replaced by disbelief and… anger. "And for whatever reason, scientists believe that they may be reverting back to their savage, a-and primitive ways."

Judy was beginning to get uncomfortable as the reporters continued to press her for more answers, but she saw Jack enter the room and march over to them.

"Alright. That's enough. No more questions, thank you very much." He stated and pulled them out of the circle. "Sorry abo that guys." He then heard his phone buzz and he walked away from the two to answer it.

Nick stood there and watch Judy take a deep breath.

"Wow, that was intense. I didn't even get to talk about how we met or-"

"Oh, I think you said plenty." Nick huffed out, a bitterness in his tone.

"What do you mean?" _She honestly doesn't know?_

"'It might have something to do with their DNA'? That 'these predators may be reverting back to their primitive savage ways'? Are you serious?" Nick made no attempt to hide the disappointment on his face as he repeated what she said, and she held up her hands in defense.

"I was just stating what the doctors were theorizing."

"Yeah, key word there, carrots: _Theorizing_."

"Well, it's not like a _bunny_ could go savage." Nick felt anger boil inside of him. _There's the truth._

"Right, but a fox could, huh?" He saw Judy's eyes widen.

"Nicl, stop it! You're not like them." She tried to assure him, but it only makes it worse.

"Oh, so there's a them now?" Nick questioned, anger and sarcasm oozing from each word. She scoffed in frustration.

"You know what I mean. You're not that kind of predator."

"The kind that needs to be muzzled?" He reminded her of the ranger scouts incident, and then looked down at the bottle of fox repellent peeking out of her pant pocket. "The kind that makes you believe that ou need to carry around _fox_ repellent?" He saw the guilt in Judy's eyes. "Yeah, don't think I missed _that_ little item the first time we met." He saw as reporters alike took notice of their little fight and began rolling, but he didn't care. He had officially gotten his point across, but he had become so angry that he continued to push.

He raked his claws through the fur top his head in frustration. "Le-let me ask you a question; are you afraid of me?" He closed the gap between them and her eyes widened. _Ding, ding, give the fox a prize,_ he thought.

"Do you think I might go nuts?" She flinched as he spoke again. _Right again, Wilde._

"Think I might go savage?" He used his claws for emphasis. Still no answer. _You're on roll, here._

"Do you think I might try to…" He paused then jumped forward, claws still beared. "EAT YOU!?" And this time, there was an answer. She jumped back and held one hand out while the other hovered over the bottle.

And at that moment, all of the disappointment, all of the anger, all of it; it was all gone. Instead it was replaced with sadness. Here stood a mammal that Nick had trusted; a mammal that he had told his life's story to, and now she was standing there, about to spray him with _fox_ repellent. Once again, he was heartbroken.

But he wasn't going to let _her_ know that.

"Huh, I knew it." He slumped backwards. "Just when I thought someone actually _believed_ in me…" Judy stepped forward to say something, but Nick held up his hand.

"Probably best that you don't make friends with me." He meant to say predator, but 'me' is what came out. And with that, Nick walked off. He heard her call out for him as he left the room, but he just winced and kept waliking.

"No, Nick. Nick!" Judy tried to catch up to him, but she was stopped by the now-continuing barrage of reporters.

"Ms. Hopps, were you just threatened by Nicholas Wilde?"

"Nonono, Nick is my _friend._ " She defended as she tried to move around them, only to fail.

"We can't even trust our own friends?"

"that is _not_ what I said!"

"Are we safe!?"

"Have you seen any other foxes go savage!?"

 _Oh God, what have I done?_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Fluff: NONONONONO! HOW DARE YOU RUIN SUCH A FLUFFY MOMENT!**

 **Flapjack: It wasn't my idea.**

 **Fluff: [gumbles] shut up.**

 **Flapjack: Hey everyone! It's the Captain and the Fair Lady once again, and today we bring you a REALLY long chapter filled with conflict, a little fluff, and a slap to the face at the end.**

 **Fluff: so in our little PM thing we did yesterday, we asked 3 people about Nick's reaction to Judy. We asked them if Nick should be Disappointed, Angry or Devastated. All three said a mix of them, so that's what we did.**

 **Flapjack: We originally planned for this to be an interview session with the band, but then we got a fourth PM from the lovely Tatuminhbca, who then gave us the revolutionary idea about Judy learning piano from her grandmother, so we incorporated it into the story and we** ** _LOVED_** **it.**

 **Fluff: Oh no! Nick is angry with Judy, what's gonna happen next? We can't tell you that, but we** ** _can_** **tell you that it ain't gonna be a one chapter fix kind-of-a deal. We are gonna milk this tension like a prized heifer!**

 **Flapjack: OK, hun, let's calm down a bit. We have to do the notes from the fic.**

 **Fluff: OK, then get on widdit.**

 **Flapjack: So we have a few notes. First things first: Mrs. Otterton's first name. she didn't have one in the movie, so we're just using her voice actor's first name.**

 **Fluff: MUSIC NOTES! The piano piece** ** _Clair de Lune_** **was written by Claude Debussy, a brilliant musician. Gazelle is Shakira, Elkton John is Elton John, and Paul McCatney is Paul McCartney.**

 **Flapjack: Yes, It was Jack leading Judy away from the reporters, not Bellether, but don't get any ideas. Jack is** ** _not_** **the anonymous tipster. He's one of the good guys.**

 **Fluff: Sorry if this chapter had too many perspective changes, but we had to see what was going one between both Nick and Judy.**

 **Flapjack: Soooooooo yeah. That's about it!**

 **Fluff: No, we've got one other thing to say.**

 **Flapjack: Ooohhhh yeah. OK guys. We're about to get swamped in things to do, so we're gonna slow down a bit. BUT, since fluff has been begging me to do one of these, we are going to host a Q &A session during this short hiatus.**

 **Fluff: So if you have any questions about me, the Fair Lady, or my Dreaded Pirate Captain here, feel free to ask them in the reviews section or through PMs. You can also ask for hints about future chapters, if you'd like. After we get a few, we'll post our answers as a notice.**

 **Flapjack: We won't be on a hiatus too long, so stick around.**

 **Fluff: other than that, you know the drill. Favorite the fic! Follow it! Review it!**

 **Flapjack: We'll talk to you guys later.**


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11: ONE RABBIT'S REMORSE**

"Well, from what I had heard, the doctors are saying that it _might_ have something to do… with their DNA." Nick's brow furrowed in confusion. _What?_

"Ms. Hopps, would you care to explain?"

"Um, yes. What I mean is: thousands of years ago, um, predators used to survive through their… a-aggressive hunting instincts." Nick's mind brought him back to the ranger scout incident, and his confusion was now being replaced by disbelief and… anger. "And for whatever reason, scientists believe that they may be reverting back to their savage, a-and primitive ways."

Judy was beginning to get uncomfortable as the reporters continued to press her for more answers, but she saw Jack enter the room and march over to them.

"Alright. That's enough. No more questions, thank you very much." He stated and pulled them out of the circle. "Sorry abo that guys." He then heard his phone buzz and he walked away from the two to answer it.

Nick stood there and watch Judy take a deep breath.

"Wow, that was intense. I didn't even get to talk about how we met or-"

"Oh, I think you said plenty." Nick huffed out, a bitterness in his tone.

"What do you mean?" _She honestly doesn't know?_

"'It might have something to do with their DNA'? That 'these predators may be reverting back to their primitive savage ways'? Are you serious?" Nick made no attempt to hide the disappointment on his face as he repeated what she said, and she held up her hands in defense.

"I was just stating what the doctors were theorizing."

"Yeah, key word there, carrots: _Theorizing_."

"Well, it's not like a _bunny_ could go savage." Nick felt anger boil inside of him. _There's the truth._

"Right, but a fox could, huh?" He saw Judy's eyes widen.

"Nicl, stop it! You're not like them." She tried to assure him, but it only makes it worse.

"Oh, so there's a them now?" Nick questioned, anger and sarcasm oozing from each word. She scoffed in frustration.

"You know what I mean. You're not that kind of predator."

"The kind that needs to be muzzled?" He reminded her of the ranger scouts incident, and then looked down at the bottle of fox repellent peeking out of her pant pocket. "The kind that makes you believe that ou need to carry around _fox_ repellent?" He saw the guilt in Judy's eyes. "Yeah, don't think I missed _that_ little item the first time we met." He saw as reporters alike took notice of their little fight and began rolling, but he didn't care. He had officially gotten his point across, but he had become so angry that he continued to push.

He raked his claws through the fur top his head in frustration. "Le-let me ask you a question; are you afraid of me?" He closed the gap between them and her eyes widened. _Ding, ding, give the fox a prize,_ he thought.

"Do you think I might go nuts?" She flinched as he spoke again. _Right again, Wilde._

"Think I might go savage?" He used his claws for emphasis. Still no answer. _You're on roll, here._

"Do you think I might try to…" He paused then jumped forward, claws still beared. "EAT YOU!?" And then he felt something build inside of him. Something raw, instinctual, and dangerous. He tried to stop, but his paw swung across Judy's left cheek, making 3 clean claw marks on her cheek. She yelped and fell back. She looked up at Nick, his pupils dilated, his breath heavy, and he could see fear fill his eyes.

The raw feeling subsided and he quickly realized what he had done and pulled a paw to his mouth.

"Carrots! Oh God, I'm so sorry." He reached out his paw to help her up, but she screamed and swatted at his paws with her own.

"Get away from me!" How had this happened? What just happened? One minute, he was angry at Judy, next minute, he felt something take control of him; something primal. His eyes widened. _Nonononono. That can't be right!_

"Judy, you have to believe me! I didn't mean to!"

"Get away from her, filthy pred!" He heard someone yell and he turned to see mammals all around the room either glaring or cowering. He looked down at his paws, his claws extended. Then he heard something behind him. He turned around just in time to see Judy shove a muzzle on him. He fell backward as he saw the look of fear on her face replaced with something darker.

"Judy, what are you doing!?" He managed.

"You're a predator, Nick. Just like the scouts said: You can't be trusted without a muzzle." He backed away until he felt the wall behind him stop him from moving further. Everyone around the room was now donning dark smiles on their faces and he could hear their laughs as they closed around them. He ducked his head between his legs, covering his ears and screwing his eyes shut. _Please, please, please just let this end._ Then he heard what sounded like his daughter.

"Daddy! Let him go!" He looked up and saw her pushing through the crowd to get to him. They tried to keep her from him, but then she bit one.

"Ah! You little brat!" He then heard a slap followed by a yelp, then a whimper. "You're a savage, just like you father."

"Savages need to be destroyed!" He heard someone yell, then there were shouts of agreement around the room. He then saw someone produce a gun from his jacket, and he began walking over to Lily.

"Don't you dare!" He growled through his muzzle and he felt paws restrain him. "I'll kill you! Leave my daughter alone!"

"The both of you are savages, Nick." He heard Judy say. "And savages need to be put down." Then he saw the mammal place the gun to Lily's head and began to squeeze the trigger.

 _NO!_

* * *

Nick shot up from his pillow, screaming. Then he looked around the dark room. _Another nightmare?_ He looked over at the clock.

 ** _11:00 a.m. Sidewalk Citizen's, 3 weeks later._**

Nick ran his claws through the fur atop his head. His coat was damp with sweat. Though Nick was accustomed to having nightmares, he'd never had these kinds before. These ones were more 'primal' centric, usually him going crazy and hurting someone he cared about. It had gotten bad; so bad that he made a decision last night that he was going to tell the others today.

He got up and headed out of the room. Lily and Katie were sitting at the coffee table, working on homework. They looked up at him and Lily got up and jumped to hug him. His thoughts went back to the nightmare he just had and his eyes glazed over as he hugged her tightly.

"Good morning, daddy."

"Good morning, sweetie." He let go of her and set her back down on the floor.

"Have you heard from Judy?" He grimaced at the sound of her name. He told the band as well as Lily, Katie and Jack about the fight. Even if he hadn't, though, they would've seen it on the TV or in the paper a few days later. They weren't happy with her, but it never got so bad that they were glad she was gone.

"No, I haven't."

"You can't be angry forever." Nick smiled at her. Lily had a way of making people feel better, no matter how bad they may feel.

"Okay, sweetie. Do you mind going and waking up the guys for me?"

"Okay." And with that, Lily left the room and Nick sat down and pinched the bridge of his snout. He and Katie sat in silence for a while until Katie spoke up.

"She's right you know." Nick, eyes still closed, rose his eyebrows.

"Hmm?"

"You can't stay angry forever."

Nick sighed and opened his eyes. "I know, and I won't, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna forgive her." Before she could retort, they heard the doors open. "Hey guys."

"What's up, Nick." Finnick asked and Nick pulled out a paper with an attached picture of a house.

"I have a proposition for us."

* * *

 ** _2:30 p.m. Pangolin Arm's Hotel_**

Judy swung the door closed behind her and tossed her keys and bag onto her bed. She took a seat at her desk and laid her head on her arm. She reached over and turned on her radio.

 _"How could you be so, cold as the winter wind when it breeze, yo."_

 _*click*_

 _"What you even come around for? You ain't have my back even when I had yours.""_

 _*click*_

 _"Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted"_

 _*click*_

The radio went silent and Judy tucked her arm under her chin with the other. One month. It had been one month since the fight, one month since reporters leaked the fight all over the city, and one month since the city went to chaos. But most of all, it had been one month since Judy last saw the guys; since she last saw Nick. After the fight, she didn't feel as though it wouldn't have been right for her to go back to the apartment, so she rented out an apartment to stay at for a while. She heard her phone buzz and she pulled it out to see a text from her brother, Nathan.

 **Nathan: Hey.**

 **Judy: Hey.**

 **Nathan: How you holding up?**

 **Judy: Not well.**

 **Nathan: Well, I'm free today. Wanna meet up?**

Judy honestly didn't know whether she wanted to or not. She _really_ needed someone to talk to, but she also didn't know whether she could step back outside again. After her fight with Nick got leaked, the entire city as split in two. Predators were treated like dirt and disgusting monsters, and it was all because of what she said that night. Any time she passed one, they would look at her with either hurt, anger, disappointment, or a mix of the three. She could never handle the last one, because it reminded her of Nick after their fight. She felt her phone buzz in her paw again.

 **Nathan: ?**

 **Judy: Sure.**

* * *

"You look horrible." Nathan was sitting on a bench in the central park, playing a ukulele. His shirt was ruffled, and he didn't look too well either.

"You don't look too well yourself, sissy." He quipped, but then his expression went cold. "Nick stopped talking to me. I tried to get in touch with him, but every time I did, one of the other guys would be on the other end." Judy's brow furrowed and she plopped onto the spot beside him.

"It's my fault."

"Yeah, it is." Judy turned to him. She wasn't looking for comfort, but his response was so quick and direct, it was almost as if he just shot her. "I mean, why'd you even say _anything_ to those reporters?" That was question that she had been asking herself a lot lately. Had she not said anything that night, none of this would have happened had she just kept her mouth shut.

"I honestly don't know."

"And another question, why'd you even have that fox repellent?" Judy padded the pocket she used to keep the fox spray used to be in. After their fight, she had thrown it away in a passing garbage truck, never to see it again. "And why'd you almost spray Nick with it? He was your friend. He trusted you with stuff he'd never trusted anyone with." Judy's ears shot up.

"What are you talking about. The stuff that he told me, you knew, the guys knew."

"The guys knew because they were there when it happened. They witneseed it happen." Judy's eyes widened. She'd never thought about that. "And the only reason I know is because Olivia and Emmitt told me. Nick had _never_ told anyone about his past himself. You were the first." _Oh God, What did I do?_ Judy's paw covered her mouth as she realized what she did. She was the first person Nick had _ever_ trusted with his past and she went and destroyed his trust.

"Oh God, no."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad."

Judy got up and began to leave. "I need to talk to him!"

"Good luck with that."

She paused and turned to her brother, whom was still sitting on the bench. "Why?"

"He's not at the apartment."

Judy's head tilted. "Why not?"

"Because," He got up, holding his uke in one hand, and looked in the direction of the apartment, then answered.

"They moved out."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Flapjack: Hey guys! We hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Fluff: Originally, we were gonna wait a while, but we couldn't help but write some more of this fic!**

 **Flapjack: Alright: Notes!**

 **Fluff: Sorry if Nick's nightmare made some people uncomfortable. We ourselves can't stand the murder of adolescents, but we needed something that would be dark enough for you guys to get a basic sense of what Nick's nightmares are like.**

 **Flapjack: The songs playing on Judy's radio, in order, are** ** _Heartless_** **by Kanye West,** ** _Ghost_** **by Andy Mineo and** ** _Bad Blood_** **by Taylor Swift.**

 **Fluff: Other than that, we've got some serious stuff coming up, soon. We're starting to leave the safety of a general plot-line of the original story and we're gonna have to start writing original ideas. I guess that's when our skills as writers get put to the test.**

 **Flapjack: But let's focus on the present. We're gonna get more insight on Judy's family. We're not gonna see Nick in the next chapter, because we wanna leave Nick's story a bit of a mystery during this part.**

 **Fluff: That's about it! We hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hit those fave/follow buttons! Leave us reviews!**

 **Flapjack: Our Q &A session is still going on as well, ask us questions in the reviews or in PMs, and we'll answer them after get a few questions piled up.**

 **Fluff: Until then, you guys stay awesome!**


	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12: FAMILY MATTERS**

As the sun began to rise over the hills of Bunnyburrow, its population slowly shift in their beds. It was at this time that the collective population began to rise from their beds, get dressed and begin their tasks for the day. However, one particular bunny found it hard to rise from her bed. She lay in her bed, piddling with a black pick with the band logo etched into it. Her eyes were somber and tired, and the usual smile on her face was long gone.

It had been three months since Judy had her fight with Nick, and it had been two months since she found out that the guys had moved out of their apartment. After her brother had told her that they moved out, she went to see for herself. When she made it to the top floor, she saw all of the doorsddf open. Noah and Katie's cook books, Joey's training equipment, Finnick's old rap cassettes, Nick's Vinyl Records… Everything was gone. She had headed down and the landlord had said that they packed up her stuff and left it for her to pick up as well as a letter that they wrote for her.

Still lying in her bed, she grabbed the letter off of her bedside table and read through it again.

 _Judy,_

 _If you're reading this, that means you know that we're no longer staying here anymore. Sorry for not letting you know about it, but we were hoping that maybe Nick would do it. However, he obviously didn't. Regardless, we moved to an estate in the Deciduous Domain, which Mr. Big provided for us. We would really like it if you met us there. Joey, Finnick, Noah, Lily, me… we miss you. It was painful for us to hear that you hurt Nick, but you're still a part of the family. So, we decided to write you this letter. The estate is off of Howling Drive. We're hoping that you'll come and find us, but we'll let you decide whether you want to or not. Come when you're ready._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Katie_

Her brow furrowed as she set the letter back on the bedside table and wrapped her arms around a carrot-shaped pillow as she sat up. She desperately wanted to see them again, but she knew that Nick wouldn't be happy to see her again. He had given her his trust and she had trampled all over it. _No, he'd never forgive me. Why should he?_

It wasn't long after her she found out about their move that she decided head back to the burrows. She could help but let out a bitter chuckle into the pillow as she remembered the first conversation she and Nick had.

 _"…_ _And soon enough those dreams die and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor, living in a box under a bridge. Till, finally, she has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs to become... You're from Bunnyburrow, you said? So how about a carrot farmer? Does that sound about right?"_

He was right. She was a mess, and she _did_ run home her tail 'between her legs'. Maybe, if she had listened to him in the first place, she wouldn't have so much heartbreak and guilt to deal with. But before she could dwell on those thoughts, she heard her door creak open.

"Hey, sweetie. Breakfast is ready." She heard her mom say, and she turned her head around and tried her best to smile.

"Okay, mom. I'll be right down."

* * *

Bonnie Hopps sat in her chair, her shoulders slumped over. She was completely out of ideas. As happy as a mother would be to see her daughter again, she knew that her little baby girl was depressed. She had come home and tried to do her best to maintain a happy exterior, but it wasn't too hard to see past it. She had tried everything to make her that happy girl that she knew, but nothing she did worked. Clawhauser was even given 2 weeks off by Bogo to visit them, but even _he_ couldn't do anything.

When she originally came home, she had said nothing was wrong, but Bonnie wasn't out of the loop. The news of Judy's fight with that Nick character had made it all the way to the Burrows as well as other surrounding towns. The entire city had practically shut down. All events, including the Pawlapalooza music festival, had shut down until further notice. She knew that things were only getting worse in the city. She heard the door open and turned to see a plump cheetah in a grey tee walk in.

"Good morning, Mrs. Hopps."

"Morning, Ben. And, just Bonnie is fine." She got up and pulled out a plate of gourmet doughnuts and set them on the table. She chuckled a bit as she saw Ben's eyes light up at the sight of his favorite breakfast.

"Did you talk to Judy?" He asked, his voice muffled from the doughnut in his mouth.

"Yes. She's still not in the best of moods right now." Clawhauser's face dropped at that statement. "She feels horrible about everything., I can tell. She won't talk about it to anyone; not me, not her father, not even you." She then remembered Clawhauser had mentioned something about his job last night. "How're you holding up since the upset."

"Oh, well…" Clawhauser shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable. "The city board decided that it would be best if a predator wasn't the first face that people saw when they walked into the ZPD, so they forced Bogo to move me to records." Bonnie's brow furrowed at the thought of people seeing Clawhauser as dangerous. Sure, she and her husband were deathly afraid of predators when they met him, but Ben was a friendly face to all.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure Judy is guilt-ridden about it."

"She doesn't know. I didn't want her feeling even worse." They sat in silence for a while until Clawhauser grabbed the TV remote and turned it on to the ZNN. "I should probably check to see how things are going back in the city." Immediately, the news anchors, the news belt reading 'tundratown tragedy' on the bottom of the screen.

 _"More bad news in this 'City Gripped By Fear': a caribou is in critical condition, the victim of a mouling by a savage polar bear. This, the 27_ _th_ _such attack, comes just one week after now-former Sidewalk Citizens member Judy Hopps connected the violence to traditionally predatory mammals."_

 _"Meanwhile, a peace rally organized by pop-star Gazelle was marred by protests."_

 _"Go back to the forest, predator!"_

 _"I'm from the Savannah!"_

They continued to watch the screen as Gazelle began to speak to the reporter on-sight, oblivious to the fact that Judy had entered the room.

 _"Zootopia is a unique place. It's a crazy, beautiful, diverse city where we celebrate our differences. This is not the Zootopia I know. The Zootopia I know is better than this. We don't just blindly assign blame. We don't know why these attacks keep happening, but it is irresponsible to label all predators as savages. We cannot let fear divide us. Please, give me back the Zootopia I love."_

It was then that Bonnie turned and saw Judy standing at the door, her eyes glazed.

"Oh, Judy!" At the sound of Judy's name, Claw immediately shut off the TV. "We were just-"

"It's okay, mom." She sat down, grabbed a doughnut and began nibbling at the edge. There was an awkward silence and a few exchanged glances between Bonnie and Clawhauser before Bonnie spoke up.

"OK! I'm about to head out and join Stu at the stands, if you two would like, you can join me." Clawhauser decided to go along with it.

"Sure! Judy, wanna come?"

"… Sure."

* * *

It was hard watching Judy at the stand. Her ears hung limp at the back of her head and she hid somber eyes underneath her straw hat. Bonnie knew how bad depression could affect a bunny. She remembered how it took one of her sons before. Judy's older sister, Helen, was an army medic for 6 years before one day, she was relieved from duty. She came home and depression and PTSD had taken its toll on her. She, like Judy, was a joyful and spite-fire type bunny, but after whatever she saw overseas, she lost all of it. And one night, she must have simply lost the will to live and just slipped away in her sleep.

It happened to Helen, and Bonnie was NOT about to leave her baby girl to the same fate. Stu walked up behind her.

"How's our little girl?"

"Not good. Is he coming today?"

"Who?" Stu was confused for a second, but then the little light bulb in his head went off. "Oh, yeah. He'll be here."

"Good. Let's have him drop off the goods at the stand."

* * *

Judy leaned up against the stand and looked at the newspaper sitting on the table. The headline read 'ZOOTOPIAN MUSICIANS LEAD PEACE RALLIES ACROSS ZOOTOPIA'. Clawhauser had taken over managing the stand so Judy could have some time to think. She stood there in silence until she heard her father behind her.

"Hey there, Jude. Jude the dude. Remember that one?" Silence. "How we doin'?"

"I'm fine."

"You are not fine. Your ears are droopy." She heard her mother say. _I guess I have to answer them._ She sighed and replied.

"Why did I think I could make it as a musician."

"Because you're a trier. That's why."

"You've always been a trier." They were trying to make her feel better, but it only made things worse.

"Oh, I tried. And I only made life _so_ much worse for so many innocent predators." Then there was a honk of a vehicle.

"Oop! Not _all_ of them, though. Speak of the devil. Right on time." Judy looked up as she saw a van labeled _Gideon Grey's Bakery_ , on the side.

"Is that," She lifted herself up as depression was replaced with wonder. "Gideon Grey?"

"Yep, sure is. We work with him now." Judy turned to her parents. _How? These can't be the same parents who almost gave me a fox taser?_

"He's our partner, and we _never_ would've considered it had you not opened our eyes.

"That's right." Stu rebuffed. "I mean, Gid's become one of the top pastry chefs in the tri-burrows." She looked at Gideon, then back at her parents, a smile creeping onto her face.

"That's really cool, you guys." She left the stand and rounded out to the back of the van where Gideon was unloading.

"Gideon Grey." He turned around and she stuck her paws in her pockets. "Well, I'll be darned."

"Hey Judy, ahd just like to say ahm sorry for the way ah-ah-ah behaved in mah youth. Ah-ah had a lot of self doubt and it manifested itself in a form of unchecked rage and aggression. I was a _major_ jerk."

How had so many people change so much in so little time? Here was this fox whom, when they were kids, told her that she'd never be anything more than a carrot farming dumb-bunny. But now, he was this sweet, stuttering fox whom worked with her parents.

"Well, I know a thing or two about being a jerk." She heard her parents, as well as Clawhauser step up behind her, and Gideon smiled, grabbing a tray of blueberry pies.

"Anyhow ah brought y'all these pies." They went to grab the pies when Stu heard laughter coming from the fields, then turned quickly and shouted.

"Hey kids, don't you run through those midnicampum holicithias!"

"Now there's a four-dollar word, Mr. H. Mah family always just called em' Night Howlers." At that, Clawhauser jumped up.

"What'd you say?"

"Oh, he's talking about the flowers, Ben. I use em' to keep the bugs off the produce, but I don't like the little ones to run through em' on account of what happened to Judy's uncle Terry." Judy glanced over as well. She'd not heard much of uncle Terry. Then, her mom spoke up.

"Yeah, Terry ate one whole when we were kids and went completely nuts."

"He bit the dickens out of Bon!" Ben came to a realization, and then began scrambling to the stand to grab his keys.

"Sorry guys, I've gotta go!" Judy jumped back at the speed at which Ben was running around.

"Wha? Where?"

"Back to Zootopia, I have some new information of the missing mammals case that I need to bring to the Chief _immediately!_ " He hopped into his car, and started it. All this time, Judy analyzed everything in her mind. _Maybe it's not too late. Maybe I can fix things._ She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Ben beginning to drive off. She turned to her mom and dad and gave them a tight hug.

"I love you guys." She then began running to catch up to Ben, yelling back "I'll see you soon!". She continued to bound off, waving frantically at Ben until he stopped the car. She hopped in and they sped off to Zootopia, leaving a _very_ confused bunny couple and fox baker behind.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Fluff: HEY EVERYONE, WE'RE NOT DEAD!**

 **Flapjack: So it's been, what, seven days since we posted an actual chapter?**

 **Fluff: Probably more, but that's OK! So guys, we hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Flapjack: We're still trying our best to stay in the general direction of the original plot. We figured since Clawhauser knew Judy's parents, he could be the one that freaks out when he hears the term 'Night Howlers"**

 **Fluff: Okay, so a few notes. First things first. Zootopia is oN NETFLIX! WOO HOOOO!**

 **Flapjack: Calm down, hun. [clears throat] Fluff has watched the movie 8 or 9 times now. It's a bit draining because** ** _Psych_** **is being taken off Netflix in 5 days and I won't be able to do one last Binge-watch of it.**

 **Fluff: Quit whining. You've re-watched that show 7 times now.**

 **Flapjack: [grumbles to himself] Anyway, the headlines on the newspaper read** ** _"ZOOTOPIAN MUSICIANS LEAD PEACE RALLIES ACROSS ZOOTOPIA"_** **for a reason. You'll find out about it soon enough.**

 **Fluff: We also edited Chapter 08. Nick is 18 when he leaves his family and it's after Aurora's funeral instead of him being 17 and leaving after she dies. We've got another chapter coming to you pretty soon, so keep an eye out. We're still gonna do the Q &A session thing.**

 **Flapjack: [under breath] Reluctantly.**

 **Fluff: We've already received a couple questions in our PMs already, but if you'd like, you can still ask anything you'd like in the review section of in the PMs. Sooooo yeah. That's about it.**

 **Flapjack: Until we see you guys again, Leave us reviews. What did we do good, what do we need to improve? Hit those Fave/follow buttons. We hope you have good lives. Be happy, laugh often, love completely. We'll see you next time.**


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13: DUMB BUNNIES AND WHERE TO FIND 'EM**

 ** _3:30 p.m. Zootopia city limits._**

"Ben, I don't understand. What's up with night howlers?" Judy asked Clawhauser while he sped through the entrance.

"When we found the missing mammals, one of them – an otter – said something about Night howlers, but since we had already found everything, we assumed it was needless information."

"Okay, but what does that mean?"

"It means that predators aren't reverting back! Someone is _making_ them go savage!" Judy's eyes went wide after hearing this.

"But wouldn't that mean Lionheart did it?"

"No, Lionheart didn't have any other private properties and there were no traces of anything else other than the mammals at the facility. We traced the anonymous call to Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether."

"The new mayor?"

"Yeah, and if Lionheart was trying to contain the mammals, then who was shooting them? On top of that, who had access to his files?" Ben turned on his siren and sped up. "I've gotta get this to Bogo. This changes everything!"

Judy pulled out Katie's letter and stared at it for a second, then looked up to Clawhauser. "I need to stop for a second."

"Why?"

"I need to get to Nick."

"Where is he?"

"Off of Howling Drive." She then felt a sudden jerk as Clawhauser turned right. She looked forward to see a sign that read _Entering Deciduous Domain_. "You don't have to drive me there, Benji. You need to get to the police station."

"I'm driving you there. End of discussion." Judy looked over at Ben, whom had a determined look on his chubby face, and she smiled.

* * *

Benjamin drove off, leaving Judy standing at the Corner where Howling Drive met Canid Court. She marveled at the amount of space in the Deciduous Domain. The sector was bigger than the other ones on land size alone, but it's population wasn't nearly as dense as the city center or downtown. She looked down the road, giant beautiful trees on both sides. The city section was a pleasant climate with a partially-cloudy climate. She saw a tiger and lioness couple walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand smiling and waving at neighbors, whom, to Judy's surprise, smiled and waved back. Kits rode on their bikes down the street and teenagers slumped against trees texting on their phones.

She continued to walk down the street, then realized that she had no idea where she was going. She opened up the letter to see that there was no address. _How am I supposed to find them if there's no address?_ She looked around and saw a fruit stand nearby. She walked up and the bunny running it smiled warmly.

"Afternoon, ma'am." The bunny spoke with a familial tone. "What can I do ya for?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me. By any chance do you know of anyone whom recently moved here in the past two months."

"Yes, actually. There was this band that moved into the estate a little further down this road. Poor guys looked downtrodden but they've been real uplifting in this district." Judy tilted her head in confusion.

"Uplifting? How's that?"

"Well, we had a real problem with prejudices around here for a while, but they've been helping us out with that, and now we're a pretty open community." He gestured down the road. "Their place is down that way. You can't miss it."

She thanked him, paid for an apple and began walking down the road. The domain was very nice. Everyone was sweet and gentle. On her way to the house, she received a couple of gentle smiles from a doe and her kit, an elderly wolf couple and another interspecies couple. _This place can't be a part of Zootopia. It's almost as if it's untouched by the conflict._ Which is exactly what seemed to be. While the rest of the city was ridden with conflict and prejudices, it seemed like the Deciduous Domain was the only solace from it all. In a way, it reminded Judy of the Central park, except it was an entire sector where people lived.

As she pulled herself from her thoughts, the corner eye caught sight of Finnick's van. She turned to look in that direction, and her eyes widened.

It actually _was_ an estate. The house was much bigger than the others, it's exterior comprised of brick and board. The house was surrounded by a considerable amount of land like the others, and on the right side of it was a beautiful garden. In the back of her mind, she was wondering _How did they afford this… Oh, right. Mr. Big._ She gulped and walked forward. She stepped up to the door and looked down and saw the same mat she saw the first time she went to their apartment.

 _"We're Loud: Be Warned"_

She closed her eyes and sighed sighed deeply. _No turning back now._ She opened her eyes and knocked three times on the door.

"Joey, someone's at the door!" She heard Finnick yell, followed by Noah.

"Joey's training with Nick! Just answer the door!" She chuckled as her mind brought her back to a similar conversation when she first went to their apartment.

"Argh! Fine!" She heard footsteps and Finnick grumbling under his breath, and then the door flew open, and standing there was the Fennec drummer, his eyes wide after seeing who was at the door.

"…Judy." She gulped and tried her best to smile.

"Hi Finnick." There was silence for a bit and then she shifted in her place. "I just wanted to come by and say s-" She was cut off by Finnick as she felt the fox wrap his arms around her. She was dumbfounded by this action as she remembered Finnick's no-touching policy.

"Shut up." He spoke over her shoulder. "Anything ya did in the past don't matter anymore." She teared up a bit and he pulled away, a warm smile on his face. "Come on in."

Judy stepped inside and was immediately astounded. The house, which was big on the outside, was enormous on the inside. From where she stood, she could see a chandelier above her, dark-colored wooden stairs that led upstairs, and a music room to her left. The wooden floor beneath her was the same color as the floor and the walls switched between brick like the exterior and drywall.

"Who is it, Finn?" She heard Katie's voice, then saw her step to the front room. Her eyes widened and a smile crept onto her face. "Judy!" She ran to her and wrapped her arms around her, and Judy laughed and reciprocated.

"Judy?" She heard Noah say, then saw him step into the front room. "Judy!" She heard then felt Noah's arms wrap around the both of them as he lifted them both off of the floor. Judy was tearing up and laughing. Noah set them back onto the floor. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you guys, too." Judy replied, then looked around. "Where's Lily?"

"She's in the back yard with Jack and Skye." Katie said.

"Skye?"

"She's one of Jack's friends. Skye's been teaching Lily violin. I can take you out there if you'd like." Judy nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

* * *

Judy stepped out, into the side yard where she saw Lily, Jack and an arctic fox sitting in the garden. The moment she stepped into the garden, Lily's head shot up, and ran to Judy.

"Judy!" She called out and jumped up. Judy caught her in a hug and laughed.

"Hey, Lily!" She let her go and set her back on the ground. Lily grabbed her paw and brought her to the others. Jack stood up and held out a paw.

"It's good to see you, Judy." Judy, ignoring the paw, pulled him into a hug. "Oof! Well, I don't normally do hugs, but I guess this one is fine." He hugged her back warmly, then let go.

"So, you're Judy." She turned to see the Arctic fox stand to her feet. She was a beautiful vixen with a thick, smooth, pure-white coat of fur. Her eyes were a haunting orange, but her face was kind. The vixen held out her paw, and Judy shook it. "My name is Skye. I'm a friend of Jack's."

"And my auntie!" Lily spoke. Judy looked at her, then back to Skye. Then, she remembered the conversation she had with Nick.

 _"She was this beautiful arctic fox named Aurora."_

Her eyes widened as she realized who Skye was. "You're Aurora's sister."

"Yeah, I am."

"I am so, _so_ sorry." Skye held up a paw.

"No need. It was a long time ago, and I know that she's in a better place now."

"Skye is actually the reason I found out about Nick." Jack spoke up. "She's a concert violinist. We met on her first year of college and have been friends ever since." Skye playfully tweaked his ear, and for a second, Judy thought she saw Jack blush a bit.

"So! Nick has told me a _lot_ about you." Judy's eyes filled with guilt for a moment. "Yes, including that. But he told me more about the good times than the bad. He said that you have an amazing voice."

"Thanks…" Then she remembered the main reason she as here. "Speaking of Nick, where is he? I need to talk to him."

"He's with Joey in the training room. It's upstairs to the left." Judy began running to the house, but doubled back and shook Skye's hand again.

"Thanks. It's nice meeting you." Then she began running back to the house. Skye watched her enter the house and Jack asked.

"You think he'll forgive her?"

"I really hope so. Nick needs someone to share his demons with."

* * *

The training room was a big room, and they weren't sure why it was on the second floor, but it had become Nick's favorite room because it was practically sound proof. When the double sliding glass doors were closed, he could spend hours and hours taking out any anger he had on the punching bags and he could yell as loud as he wanted; No one would hear it. But right now, he was more focused on the blur of white and black delivering powerful blows to his ribcage.

"Keep your hands up!" Though Joey's parents left their perspective lives, it didn't stop them from teaching their son how to fight. Years of combat training with his father and reflex training with his mother made him a dangerous mammal in a fight, and over the past few weeks, Nick had witnesses those skills first-hand. Since the guys had moved in, he and Joey had been training together as a way for him to blow off steam, and for the most part it worked; It's hard to stay angry after taking a beating by an Irish husky.

"Come on, Nick. You're not focused! Look for openings."

"Easy for you to say!" Nick said after taking a blow to the face. "You have none."

"No one has a perfect defense! Know your enemy!" He said before landing a blow to Nick's side. "Know his weaknesses," Another to the upper abdomen. "and exploit them!" Then another to the face, and Nick fell to the padded floor beneath them. "There's no such thing as a fair fight. You do what you need to in order to win."

Nick looked up, then remembered that Joey's left leg was torn up in a freak motorcycle accident. Though it healed up (eventually), it still caused immense pain when enough pressure was applied. Joey held out his paw and Nick pulled it up, but halfway back up, he regained his balance and delivered a straight jab down on Joey's left thigh. The Husky yelped in pain and Nick took advantage of the opening, whirling him down to the ground and placing one precise shot to his solar plexus. The air was knocked out of Joey, leaving him gasping for air for a few seconds while Nick sat down on the padded floor. After Joey recuperated, he laughed loudly, still laying on the floor.

"You remembered the motorcycle wound."

"How could I not? Ma was fussing at you for a week!"

"Ha! Yeah, those were good times." Nick and Joey got up, both grabbing a towel and wiping themselves off. "You're getting good, Nick. Who knows? Maybe one day, you'll be half as good as me!" He quipped, earning him a punch to the shoulder.

"But just as humble, right?" They laughed together, completely oblivious to the fact that the double glass doors just opened.

"N-Nick?" Both Nick and Joey's eyes shot open. _Could that be…_ they thought, then turned around. There stood that little bunny that changed their lives forever. She looked horrible; as if she had done a lot of crying over the past few weeks.

"…Judy." Nick spoke without emotion.

"Hi, Nick."

* * *

As Judy approached the glass doors, she saw Nick and Joey sparring in the room. Something about Nick was different. His eyes were determined, but they also looked exhausted as if he hadn't slept in weeks. _Could I have done this to him_. He wasn't that scrawny fox she met before, either. His body had toned up quite a bit since she had last seen him, and his fur looked thicker. _Oh, Nick._

They finished up, and she took a deep breath and opened the door. They were laughing about something and she wasn't sure if they heard her come in. _No going back now, Jude._

"N-Nick?"

She saw both of them tense up and silence filled the room. They slowly turned around, their faces mixed with confusion and shock. More silence, but Joey's face lit up. However, Nick showed no emotion; Bad sign.

"… Judy." There was no emotion in his, and Judy felt as though her name cut through her like a knife.

"Hi, Nick." More silence, and Joey looked at her, then him, then clapped his hands together.

"Well! I'm gonna give _you two_ some alone time, and I'm gonna go take a shower." He grabbed his towel and walked towards the door. He whispered "It's good to see you, Judy." Then left the room, but not before he said "You two play nice, now."

There was more silence, then Judy spoke. "It's good to see you Nick. You look good-"

"What are you doing here, Judy?" _Judy? He never calls me Judy._

"I-I came to apologize. And tell you that I was wrong. Predators aren't going savage. Ben said that someone is targeting them and using toxic flowers to infect them."

"Wow, isn't that interesting." His voice was apathetic and bitter, and he turned away. He was walking away again, and Judy wasn't sure she could take that again.

"Wait, uh, wait-listen! I-I know you'll never forgive me! And I don't blame you. I wouldn't forgive me either. I was ignorant, and... irresponsible... and small-minded. But predators shouldn't suffer because of my mistakes. I have to fix this. But I don't want to do it without you." Judy's voice cracked during the last sentence.

"And... and after we're done, you can hate me, and tha-" Tears began to well up and she found it harder to speak, but she tried to continue. "And that'll be fine, because I was a horrible friend, and I hurt you. And you-" She was blubbering now as she continued to speak through stifled sobs. "And you can walk away knowing you were right all along." He still hadn't turned around and she moved her lips to finish her statement.

"I really am just a dumb bu-"

"Don't."

She looked up, her eyes wide and tears rolling down from them. His voice wasn't soft, nor kind, but it wasn't accusatory either. It was…somber. He turned around, the exhaustion in his eyes even more evident.

"W-What?"

"Just… don't." He stated. "I don't wanna hear it. You're not a dumb bunny, so don't say that. And you don't need to apologize. I've forgave you weeks ago." She smiled for a second and went to hug hum, but he held up his hand. "But… don't think that things are just gonna go back to the way they were between us. You still hurt me, badly."

She stepped back and nodded. "I understand."

"No, I don't think you do." Her brow furrowed and he continued. "There are very few people that I trust, and there is only _one_ person whom I've personally told my history to, and that was you." She lowered her head as she recalled the conversation she had with her brother. "Then after the crap that you said that night, you threw away all the trust I'd placed in you." She began shifting in her spot. It was one thing for her brother to tell her, but it was a totally different thing for Nick to convey his pain.

"… But," She looked up. She wasn't expecting a 'but'. "You're still a part of this family, so I'm not gonna make you leave."

"Thank yo-"

"Uh-uh. I'm not finished." He bent down so he was eye-level with her. "You can stay, but starting today, we are not friends. This," He waved two fingers between him and her. "is gone, and _IF_ I decide that I want to pursue that friendship again, it'll take time for it to get back to where it was. Got it?" She closed her eyes and nodded. "Good." He stood back up and gestured towards the door. "Go ahead and head back downstairs. Noah's probably got dinner made." She nodded and began heading out the door and Nick turned to grab his towel. Before she left through the door, she turned around.

"I missed you, Nick. We may not be friends right now, but know this: I will do whatever it takes to get your trust back. I'll see you at dinner."

And with that, she left the room, completely unaware of the fox whom sat down on the bench and placed his face in his paw. He bridge the bridge of his snout, and then smirked.

 _I missed you too, Fluff._

 **A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Hey everyone! Here's another chapter for ya, as promised!**

 **Fluff: So Skye Steppefurd seemed to be an arctic fox people used a lot, so we figured we'd integrate her into the story. We really hope it didn't seem rushed. You'll hear a bit more from her in the next chapter.**

 **Flapjack: For those who are confused about why Nick's mom is just Ma to the guys, if you don't remember from the earlier chapters, we said that Joey, Noah and Finnick were practically raised by Nick's parents.**

 **Fluff: So Nick has forgiven Judy, but he's not forgetting. It's gonna be a bit of a process for those two to be close... if they even choose to be, that is. [squeals and ducks to avoid rocks and pitchforks being thrown at her]**

 **Flapjack: Aaaaanyway. We did it like this because we wanted to experiment with the concept of forgiveness. We believe that forgiveness isn't so much for the culprit as it is for the victim. We believe that healing starts when you let go of the grudge, but that doesn't mean that the relationship goes right back to where it was.**

 **Fluff: That was pretty deep there, hun.**

 **Flapjack: Are you implying that I'm normally very shallow?**

 **Fluff: ... Yes.**

 **Flapjack: Ouch.**

 **Fluff: Moving on from Flapjack's insecurities: We're wrapping up the Q &A session thing now that we've got a pretty good number of questions. HOWEVER, if you have any questions you wanna ask. You have until next monday, so ask away!**

 **Fluff: So yeah, that's about it for us. We hope you enjoyed this chapter. We already have the next chapter made, but we think we'll wait a day or two before we post that one. It's heavier than any of the other ones, so we don't wanna couple it with another chapter, but we promise that it'll come out to you guys very soon.**

 **Fluff: Until then, leave us reviews! Hit those Fave/Follow buttons! Continue to live your lives! Be happy, be healthy! We'll see you next time! [Hops onto Flapjack's shoulders] Onward Captain! To lunch!**

 **Flapjack: [grumbles under breath, but smiles and walks to car regardless.]**

 **.**

 **..**

 **...**

 **Fluff: You know I was kidding about the whole 'being shallow' thing right?**

 **Flapjack: [twirls fluff's curls] 'Course I do.**

 **Fluff: [smiles and ducks down to give Flapjack an upside down kiss.]**


	15. Chapter 14

**Flapjack: WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!**

 **Fluff: HOLD UP! DO NOT START READING BEFORE YOU READ THIS!**

 **Flapjack: This is a REALLY heavy chapter. We're going to delve a little deeper into Skye and Nick's past, so yes, that means there will be a flashback scene to Aurora's death.**

 **Fluff: It's really dark, so if you're like me and you aren't very good with death, be warned. You have to read it, however. DON'T SKIP IT! It contains content that is relevant to future chapters.**

 **Flapjack: Okay. You can read now.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 14: PREDATORS AND PREY**

3 days have passed since Judy had moved back in with the guys, and things seemed to be looking up again. However, one thing was bugging Joey the past few days: What was up with Nick? It seemed as though he was actively avoiding Judy, only speaking to her when it was necessary. He understood that Nick was hurting, but he needed to get over it eventually.

Nick and he had gone to the training room for their sparring match. Nick's anger wasn't as intense as it normally was, but his frustration had skyrocketed, leaving him painfully vulnerable. It wasn't long before Nick was on the floor, groaning in pain. Joey, however, hadn't broken much of a sweat.

"Why even come up here like this? You didn't last 2 minutes."

"I'm just a little out of touch is all."

"You're frustrated."

"Astute observation there."

"That frustration is hurting your focus." He tossed a towel to Nick, whom caught it and wiped his face. "You haven't been putting up much of a fight since Judy moved back in."

"Oh, God. Not you too."

"So I'm not the first?"

"No, it was Katie first, then Skye." He spoke, his voice muffled from the towel. He pulled the towel down and huffed n exhaustion. "Alright, let me hear it."

"What're you talking about?"

"Aren't you gonna tell me something like 'You need to make amends with her' or 'She came back. Isn't that enough'?"

"No, I'm not." Joey grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the back of his neck. "I just want you to make a decision."

"What're you talking about?"

"If you want to heal that relationship, then talk to her and start working things out. If you don't want that friendship, then tell her that. That way she knows how you feel. Don't just avoid her and leave her guessing. That's unfair to her." Nick lowered his head and Joey could tell he knew that he was right. He grabbed his towel and headed towards the door. "Don't make your decision now, but do it soon. I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

"Lily, have you practiced?"

Skye was sitting in a chair next to Judy when Lily went running down the hall. She stopped after Skye asked the question and turned around.

"Yes, aunt Skye."

"Okay, would you like to Join Katie, Judy and I for a little bit of ice cream?"

"Ooh, yes, yes, yes!" She jumped up and down in her spot, then ran to the door. Judy and Katie giggled a bit as the three ladies got up to join the young kit at the door. They started walking down the road and Judy looked around the neighborhood. Autumn was here and the trees, which three days ago were just beginning to color, were now bursting with magnificent shades of red, yellow and orange. The sun was out, but the burning heat was now a pleasant warmth that embraced the entire district. Skye was walking next to Judy with a soft smile on her face. Judy looked at her and thought to herself. _Would it be inappropriate of me to ask abou-_

"So Judy, I'm assuming Nick told you about Aurora?" Skye asked, still keeping her eye on Lily. Judy's eyes went wide at Skye's question.

"Uh, yeah. He did."

"How much did he tell you?" Her voice wasn't concerned, but rather inquisitive.

"He told me about how he tried to push her away, but she kept loving him. He also told me about how Lily came about, as well as how she…" Her voice trailed off after considering that she might have gone too far.

"Died?" Skye asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm assuming he didn't tell you that I was there?"

"What?"

"Yeah, I was there for all of it…"

* * *

 ** _4:30 p.m. Meadowlands district, 7 years ago_**

"Seriously though, how's Nick been holding up?" Skye and Aurora Steppefurd were walking down the sidewalk with groceries in their paws. They were laughing about Nick's failed attempts to change Lily's diapers. Skye was in college when she found out about Aurora's pregnancy and disownment. She chastised their parents about it, and they in turn told her they never wanted to see her again. She hadn't talked to their parents since then; wealth or no wealth, her parents had acted out of cowardice when they disowned their own child to protect their reputation. She took it upon herself to care for her sister, turning down an international philharmonic position so she could be closer to her.

"Didn't he tell you he was doing fine?" Aurora stated through stifled giggles.

"Yeah, but you know Nick."

"Yeah, I guess I do." Their giggle fits quieted down and Aurora resumed. "He's… struggling. He's trying his best to be there for me. He offered to drop out of school, but I didn't want him to do that."

"You know that I'm always here to help out, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But you've got your own life to live, Skye. You can't be there for me all the time." They came to the end of the walkway and Aurora tapped the crossing button. Skye's phone rang and she pulled it out; It was Jack. "Ooh, Jack? Boyfriend?" Skye smirked at her and tapped _answer_ , walking away from Aurora.

 **Skye: Hey Jack.**

 **Jack: Hey, where are you?**

 **Skye: I'm with my sister.**

 **Jack: Oh, how is she?**

 **Skye: She's doing good. Nick has been struggling, but they seem to be progressing.**

 **Jack: That's good. Hey, you said Nick was a musician?**

 **Skye: Yeah. Why?**

 **Jack: Just wondering.**

Skye was about to retort, but then heard a scream, the screech of tires, then a thud. She jerked her head around, missing Jack's 'What's wrong?', but that didn't matter, because what she saw was the only thing that mattered. She saw the light signaling walkers to cross, she saw an old beater stopped in the middle of the road, and she saw her little sister on the ground.

"AURORA!" She ran to her sister as the car pulled off and drove away. Aurora was lying on the ground looking shocked and in pain. Skye saw her paws on her side and she lifted them, revealing a piece of glass lodged in her side. A wine bottle had shattered, and a sizeable shard jabbed into her side, and now she was bleeding profusely.

"S-Skye."

"Hold on, Aurora! Just hold on!" she went to pull the shard out, but recalled that pulling it out would let blood flow out more easily. She applied pressure where she could and looked up to see other mammals looking at the scene. "Don't just stand there! Help me! Call an ambulance!" Then she saw something she couldn't believe.

They walked away.

"No! Come back. Someone! Anyone! Help!" She cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"AURORA!" She heard Nick cry out. He pulled out his phone and dialed as he ran to them. He pulled off his T-shirt and placed it on the wound, and she could hear the responder answer.

"911, what's the emergency?"

"Hello. I-I need an ambulance sent to the meadowlands district immediately! My girlfriend is bleeding out on the street, and I ca-I can't stop the bleeding!"

"Okay sir, I need you to calm down. We'll get you two through this. Can you tell me what street you're on?"

Skye saw Nick look up at the road name. he also looked around and saw no one was helping. She heard him curse under his breath, then put the phone back to his ear.

"We're on Cloverfield Drive."

"Okay sir, we're sending an ambulance. They'll be there shortly. Keep applying pressure to the wound until they get there." Then he clicked off his phone.

"Okay, an ambulance is on its way, but I need you to hold on until then, okay sweetie?"

"N-Nick."

"Just hold on, okay?"

"Nick."

Skye watched him look at her with fear in his eyes and Aurora weakly placed a bloody paw on his cheek. The blood got on his fur, but she could tell he didn't care.

"I need you to ta-take care of Lily for me, o-okay?"

"No, don't say that. You're gonna be fine." He said as tears began spilling from his eyes. Skye was crying again as well.

"You need to be s-s-s-strong for her. She's gonna n-need her daddy now more than ever."

"No, you need to stay with me. She'll need her mother, too." He said through his sobs and Aurora smiled sadly through her pain.

"I'm dying Nick. You have to be b-b-brave for me. Can you pro-promise me you'll take care of our little girl?" Nick continued to sob and he grabbed the paw on his cheek and nodded. "Good. I have to go, but know this: If-if I were given a second ch-chance, I would've done it all over again." Then she looked at Skye. "Ke-keep an eye on him for me, o-okay?" Skye sobbed and nodded. "You were th-the best older sister anyone could ever ask for. Go li-live your life, Skye. Show the world your g-gift." She at both of them one more time, and the sirens could be heard, she smiled one more time.

"I love you both."

Then her eyes closed and her paw slipped away from Nick's cheek. Though the sirens were getting increasingly louder, it seemed to both Nick and Skye that there was nothing but silence.

"Aurora?" Nick's voice was shaky and dry. Then Skye began sobbing uncontrollably. "Nonononono, Aurora, stay with me! Stay with me, baby!" He cried out as the paramedics stepped from the vehicle and walked to them. A lionness paramedic checked Aurora's pulse, then turned to her partner and nodded. The rhino, pulled out a gurney and they gently lifted her onto it. They loaded her into the ambulance and Nick and Skye followed behind them. The doors closed and the ambulance began bounding toward the Zootopian General Hospital.

What they didn't know was that they would be too late to save her.

 **1 hour later.**

Skye was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying, her paws were stained with her sister's blood and so were her clothes. But as bad as she looked, Nick looked worse. His eyes were equally red, and he was shirtless. His cheek was still stained with blood and he was still holding the blood-soaked shirt he used to try to save Aurora with. His fur was ruffled, and his expression was a combination of emptiness and despair. It had been 45 minutes since Aurora was declared dead. They had both contacted their parents to let them know. Nick's parents broke down in tears, but Skye's parents gave her an apathetic _"Oh, that's a shame."_.

 _"'That's a shame'!? She's your daughter! And now she's DEAD! You could show at least a little bit of sympathy!"_ was her response. _"You know what? I don't even know why I even bothered calling you two! I hope you enjoy the rest of your miserable lives, scum!"_

A beat cop named Benjamin Clawhauser had come to log some reports, and even the Chief of Police Adrian Bogo had paid a visit.

"Mr. Wilde, Ms. Steppedfurd, I'm Adrian Bogo, the Chief of Police. I apologize for your loss."

"Thank you, sir."

"What's the Chief of Police doing here?" It was the first time Skye had heard Nick speak. His voice was dry and cracked and his tone was callous. She looked at him and saw that he still looked tranced, as if his voice wasn't his own.

"Nick."

"No, it's fine ma'am." Bogo assured her, then turned to him. "I knew your mother and father well before you were born. They called me and I decided to come." Nick was not aware of this. He knew his father was well known around the city as well as towns around the world. However, he never expected his influence to reach the doors of the police. "If you would excuse my forwardness, I'm well accustomed to the feeling of losing loved ones. I lost a daughter to the same fate 2 years ago."

"I'm sorry." Katie stated

"It's fine. It's in the past." Then Clawhauser had entered the room.

"Ms. Steppefurd, Mr. Wilde. I'm _SO_ sorry about your loss." They nodded to him. "I need just a few more facts, and we'll be done."

"Okay."

"The paramedics said that there was no car when they made it to the scene. Can you tell me what happened?"

"He drove off."

"Like a coward." Nick added.

"Chief, that makes this a felony hit-and-run, then. Do you remember what he looked like?"

"It was a weasel. He was driving an old torn-up beater."

"Did you happen to catch the license plate?"

"No, I didn't."

"That's alright. We'll make do with what we have." Benjamin nodded to Bogo and left the room.

"We'll find him. I promise you both." Bogo motioned to leave the room but then Nick piped up.

"Does it ever get easier?" He turned around, sighed deeply and looked at the exhausted fox.

"Do you mean 'Does the pain ever go away'?" There was a pause, then Bogo shook his head. "No, it doesn't, but you learn to keep moving."

"… Thanks." His voice was a little louder than a whisper, but Bogo caught it. He nodded and exited the room.

* * *

"They were good on their word, too. The weasel, Duke Weaselton, was caught and arrested. He left the scene because he was a criminal, and if they found him at the scene, he would be arrested. He's serving time for his past crimes as well as the one against my sister." She looked over at Judy, who was now trying really, _really_ hard not to cry. They were sitting on a bench, eating Italian ice while Lily was playing with a butterfly.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you relive that."

"No it's fine. Bogo was right: It's still hurts, but I know she's in a better place now. Besides, a lot of good also came from that day. We put a bad mammal behind bars and we made friends in the ZPD."

"Bad things happen." Katie spoke. "And they _are_ bad, but that doesn't mean that good things can't come from them."

Judy wiped her eyes and smiled. Never in her life had she ever met such a broken group of mammals. They had been beaten battered and abused, yet they continued to keep moving forward. These were mammals that she aspired to be like one day.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out. It was Nick. _Nick? What's he texting me for?_ He hadn't spoken to her at all unless he absolutely had to in the past three days she'd been back. She slid it open.

 **Nick: Need you back at the house ASAP.**

"Who is it?" Katie asked.

"It's Nick. He needs me back at the house."

"Well, I guess we've been out long enough. We can all head back."

* * *

As Judy and the others entered the house, she saw the guys running around shouting around the house.

"Noah, where are my keys!"

"Kitchen Counter! Joey where're my papers!"

"I've got 'em. Where's Nick!"

"Downstairs! Come on, we gotta go!" Nick came walking into the front room. "There you are. Come on, we need to get going."

"What's going on, Nick?"

"Peace rallies. Zootopian musicians are leading them all over the city. This is our biggest one yet, though. A bunch of musicians, ourselves included, are leading it. Gazelle, Paul McCatney, Memoranda, _and_ your brother 'll be there." Judy hadn't talked to her brother since she left Zootopia, so it would be nice to see him again. "So are you ready to go or not?" Nick's tone was a little bitter, but Judy paid no heed and nodded.

"Alright, then we need to go, like…" He lifted his paw up and looked at his watch. "NOW! GUYS WE GOTTA GO!"

* * *

 _Wow, this is a really big rally._ Judy's eyes went wide when saw the number of mammals. It seemed almost as if half the city was here. It was bigger than the ones she saw on T.V when her parents thought she wasn't watching. Predators were already walking around with signs that read _'We Want Equality'_ or _'Hate Is Not a Family Value'_. Though the signs were held by dominantly predatory animals, there were also some prey standing alongside them, protesting just as loud. Among them was Judy's brother, Nathan.

"Nate!" She called out, and he turned to the voice and smiled when he saw Judy.

"Jude!" He ran to her and wrapped her in a hug. Then he pulled away. "Wait. I thought you went home?"

"I did. But I decided that I caused this problem, so I should do whatever I can to fix it." He smiled and lightly ruffled the fur on her head.

"Good to hear, little sis."

"Cottontail!" They turned to see Finnick gesturing toward the back of the stand.

"Get going." She turned back to him. "It's you guys' turn to lead this one. The others and I are simply here to keep protesting." She smiled and gave him a quick hug around the neck, then ran to Finnick.

"So, what're we doing?"

"We're leading tonight."

" _All_ of us?"

"Not really. It's mostly Nick. We voted that he should be the one to do it. We're there to back him up."  
He held his hand out towards the back stairs onto the stage. She walked up them and found herself in front of hundreds of faces. Nick and Noah were off to the side, talking about something she could hear and Joey was sitting in a chair. His eyes were closed and he was muttering something and holding a cross necklace in his hands. She walked up and sat down in the empty chair next to him. He opened his eyes and clasped the necklace around his neck.

"I didn't know you were a religious guy."

"I'm not." She tilted her head in confusion and he cleared his throat. "Pharisees were religious. I'm just a guy who believes in a God and follows Him."

"Isn't God against this kind of stuff though?"

"No." He stood up and stretched his arms. "Even if he was though, It's not my job to judge people for their beliefs. My job is to show love to them. Do I accept all beliefs? No; that's impossible, but do I tolerate all of them? Sure." They were silent for a while as they overlooked the rally. Then Judy spoke up.

"Sooo what do the rally leaders do?"

"For the most part, we just over the rally and make sure that it doesn't get too violent, but sometimes we speak to them." He glanced over at Nick. "Nick's probably gonna have to speak tonight." Judy looked at Nick as he began walking over to them.

"You good?"

"Yeah. I was just explaining to Judy what Rally leaders do."

"He thinks we might have to speak tonight."

"You're not gonna speak tonight." Nick's tone was a little harsh, but he caught himself when he saw Judy flinch. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just a little anxious is all. Just let me handle it, ok?" Judy slowed her heartbeat and nodded.

Before Nick could say anything else, he heard something loud behind him. He turned to see a sign ablaze, sitting on the pavement. A zebra and a tiger were growling at one another, shouting at one another, and Nick could tell things were about to get ugly.

"Why can't you just leave us alone!?"

"Maybe it's because I don't feel SAFE around you!"

"Why not!? Can't you see that we'RE ALL THE SAME!?"

"WE ARE _NOT_ THE SAME!"

"HE'S RiGHT!"

The entire crowd turned to look at Nick. His eyes were angry and his teeth were bared.

"We are NOT the same!" He hopped down and the others followed suit. Judy followed behind and watched Nick grab the now-charred sign. The crowd made a hole around the group. Judy strained her eyes to read the sign. It read _'We're all the same'_.

"I am a fox! I am a predator. My ancestors used to EAT prey! There's no use denying it!" He tore the sign down the middle, ashes escaping into the air. "But THIS…" He turned around, his hands gesturing to the city around them. "is NOT the Stone Ages! We're better than this. We are a RICH, DIVERSE and BEATIFUL city! I see no reason to change that!

"We are bunnies, foxes, tigers, pandas, bears, wolves, tapirs, boars, sheep, goats and SO much more! We shouldn't water down those differences. We should CELEBRATE them! Didn't you hear Memoranda last week! He said _'You see my fur, and I see yours. and they are beautiful, fearfully and wonderfully, divinely designed. Uniqueness._ _Shouldn't we celebrate that rather than act like it ain't there?'_ We need to spend less time chastising each other for our differences! Those differences are what make us beautiful! If we don't start loving one another, we'll tear each other apart." After that statement, the rally fell silent. Judy saw Nick and could tell he was exhausted. Her eyes were tearing up, but she quickly wiped them away. Then her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and the caller id showed it was Clawhauser. He tapped answer and put the phone to her ear.

 **Judy: Hey Ben.**

 **Clawhauser: Oh thank God! Judy are you with Nick?** Clawhauser sounded worried.

 **Judy: Yeah. We're at the Peace Rally in Central Park. What's wrong?**

 **Clawhauser: You need to get Nick out of there, NOW!**

 **Judy: Why, what's going on?**

 **Clawhauser: We followed the lead and it lead us to Mayoress Bellwether. We arrested her, but she had an accomplice. He's a sheep named Doug. She tasked him with shooting Nick with the Night Howler serum. He's probably there now!**

Judy pulled the phone away from her ears and looked around the park. She saw several sheep, but her eyes set on one who was making his way through the crowd, fishing something out of his coat. He was walking towards Nick.

 _I have to warn him!_

She motioned to yell at him, but then she realized that she couldn't do it without also alerting 'Doug'.

 _What am I supposed to do? He's gonna infect Nick!_ Her mind flashed to all the things Nick had been through.

The Ranger Scouts.

Aurora.

Her own betrayal.

 _No._

 _I'm NOT gonna letting this happen to him._

 _Not to him._

And in a moment of impulsiveness. She ran forward.

Doug had finally made it through the crowd and revealed a gun which he pointed at Nick. He pulled the trigger, but before the bullet could land, a lone bunny had pushed Nick out of the way.

And the serum shot hit her instead.

* * *

 **Flapjack: Oh God no!**

 **Fluff: What have you done!?**

 **Flapjack: I'M SORRY!**

 **A/N:**

 **Fluff: Hey everyone! So here's our really dark chapter we warned y'all about.**

 **Flapjack: We hope we hit you with the feels a good bit. This is not the last time that we'll see Aurora. She plays a big part in a lot of Nick's decisions, so we'll hear about her and** ** _from_** **her again in later chapters.**

 **Fluff: Okay! Chapter Notes!**

 **Flapjack: alright. First off, we understand that there are 4,000+ words in this chapter and we aren't even gonna apologize for it. We got carried away on this chapter, but we decided to leave it as it is.**

 **Fluff: Next up, artist notes! As we've said before, Gazelle is Shakira and Paul McCatney is Paul McCartney. Memoranda is a Christian rapper/poet called Propaganda. We decided Memoranda would be his 'alternate' due to a spoof in his** ** _Crimson Cord_** **album.**

 **Flapjack: Speaking of Christian stuff, I should probably explain Joey's theological standing. For those who don't know, Joey is my personal character. I AM a Christian, and those are my beliefs. I apologize on behalf of all prejudiced 'christians' and the way they act. I promise Jesus would NOT act like that. Do I accept all beliefs? No I do not. It's physically impossible to accept all beliefs without becoming a walking contradiction. However, I tolerate all beliefs, and I accept the fact that people have them.**

 **Fluff: I'm a Christian as well, which is why we went and edited our chapters and stopped using profanity. We're new to the whole 'faith in a God' thing, but don't worry, all you sensitive people; This is the most theological that we'll get.**

 **Flapjack: Every now and then, you'll see Joey pray or something, but we won't bash you guys with our beliefs. We Promise.**

 **Fluff: Okay, what else?... Ooh, Nick's stance on diversity: For the longest time, Flapjack and I believed that if we spent less time looking at our differences and more time looking at our similarities, we'd get along better.**

 **Flapjack: But then we realized that we were wrong. What's wrong with difference? Nothing. We are all created differently. Different sizes, different colors, different languages, different likes, different dislikes. We shouldn't look at those differences as a bad thing, but instead celebrate them.**

 **Fluff: Finally, the story as a whole: this fiction is mostly Nick and Judy centric, but we're telling the story of the BAND as a whole as well as those it influences. So you'll get chapters that focus a bit more on some of the other characters as well.**

 **Flapjack: Also, since this story is gonna be as large as it is, it's set up in arcs with drabble sessions between them. Right now, we're in the Humble Beginnings Arc, but we'll be finishing up the arc hopefully soon.**

 **Fluff: Next chapter is gonna be mostly Nick centric. There's gonna be a lot of reflection and soul searching, so we might get a little deep in the next chapter.**

 **Flapjack: One last thing. We're looking for someone to help us make a cover image for this fic. So if you've got some artistic talent, please let us know.**

 **Fluff: that's about it! We hope you guys 'enjoyed' this chapter. We'll try to get the next one out soon.**

 **Flapjack: Hit those fave/follow buttons. Leave us reviews. PM us. Live happy and healthy. We'll see you guys next time.**


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